Secret Project #2

I double dog dare you to say these aren't the most FABULOUS yarns ever! Okay, so they aren't the MOST FAB EVER. But man oh man, I super dig these colors. Malabrigo is so damned soft!!! Really, truly, so damned soft! You can practically SEE how damned soft this is in the photo. Go ahead, touch your screen, you know you want to reach out & cuddle this yarn!! This is "Frank Ochre". I really like Frank, he's a great color. To compliment Frank there is Rio De La Plata in # TS92. I have been eyeing TS92 for a long while now. Sadly these yarns will not be with me for very long. These are the next secret project I am knitting for the shop. I may have to opt for keeping the end product of these yarns after the shop is done displaying them, rather than being paid for knitting them. Ooooh, what a dilemma!

Things that make me REALLY HAPPY....

The first time I set foot into Article Pract as a customer I fell in LUST with this folding knitting basket. The colors, the design, the vintage fabric, the fact that it was meant to hold my other true lust, yarn. Since working there my lust has grown. Last week I received my very first "payment" (gift certificate) for knitting shop samples. It burned a hole in my wallet for a few days... I pondered what to spend it on. I could have bought more yarn with it. But I don't have time to knit as it is, it would only bum me out to bring new yarn home, well... For like 2 minutes maybe. BUT... A cool new basket to hold my beloved yarn, yeessssss! It was perfect. And I really have coveted this basket since day one. I am not totally sure how I have resisted the temptation of just buying it before now! But it's home now, & we couldn't be happier. Note the adorable fabric both inside and out. And the ultra cool & useful pockets in the inside. My circs now have a real home.
Happy thought No. 2... My Boyfriend, punkrawkboy, & his love for my cats. They are now OUR cats, they have been since they first met Chris. I knew he was a keeper when despite his allergies to cats, he would pick them up & talk to them & play with them! Makes my heart happy! Final Happy thought... I decided to make myself eggs for dinner, this is the college life once again! I was tired & grumpy after an afternoon of failed attempts at sketching the 3/4 pose! I cracked two eggs into the pan. Alas, one of the eggs was a "double yoker"!!! This reminds me of my grandfather. When I was a very little girl (5 or 6, maybe 4) I lived with my mother's parents in San Diego for a little while. In the winter my Grandfather would pack us all up in the van & drive an hour up into mountains where it was snowing lightly. There was this adorable little town (Julian) with an apple store. All they sold was fresh baked apple pies, fresh pressed apple cider, apple turnovers, apple butter, candied apples, etc. What in the hell does that have to do double yoked eggs you are asking?? Well, along the way was a bakery, Dudley's . People lined up for an hour to buy the best, yummiest, freshest, most amazing breads from Dudley's bakery. And what does THAT have to do with double yoked eggs you ask again?!! I'm getting there!! Just get the hell off my back!! On the way home from a full day in the snow, sipping hot apple cider & smelling fresh baked bread (they also had really good cookies!) there was this little roadside shack, literally a little hut with a straw rooftop. This little hut sold double yoked eggs. My grandfather LOVED fried eggs, over easy, he loved sopping up the yoke with bread!!! He taught me to use bread, as a utensil, egg yoke, marinara sauce, biscuits & gravy (thanks for passing down the addiction to carbs Pop!). When we got home that evening we would have double yoked eggs & fresh Dudley's bread for dinner! Yes eggs for dinner! : )
And I don't know how they knew the eggs were doubled yoked. I would like to think that because it was 30 years ago it wasn't a chemically altered thing. So unless you have a natural explanation of it... Let's not talk about the how or why!

"Tammy Needs..."

Saw this on Whit's blog and thought it was too funny. I am giving up my magic 8-ball & my horroscope scrolls! So I went to the ALL KNOWING, ALL POWERFUL (sounds like a swift that I have met before) Google Gods and entered "Tammy needs", and this is what Google told me:

• Tammy Needs information by January 1st (sooner would actually be better.) (no joke, this is from doesthislookinfected.com)
  
• Tammy Needs to settle something in herself (ummm... duh!)
  
• Tammy Needs to know a performance installation that incorporates autobiographical text, original music and audience interaction and asks the following questions:
  -What is the difference between country music and performance art?
  -What does a fifty five year old, trailer trash, ex-heterosexual, ex-famous country and western singer need to learn in order to become a contemporary lesbian performance artist?
  ( I don't have the energy to make something this elaborate up, but I must admit that my curiosity is now peaked.)
  
• Tammy Needs your prayers and good wishes (this came from The Wicca, Witchcraft, and Paganism Community. & please don't pray for me, just think positive thoughts.)
  
• Tammy Needs a caregiver (who doesn't!?)
  
• Tammy Needs more opportunities to be creative. (now this is getting a wee bit bit spooky.)
  
• Tammy Needs all information by January 5th, 2003 in order to post it on the website. (that was ALL information people! I am obviously late, so hurry up!)
  
• Tammy Needs to find a better boyfriend. (This one is WAYYY off base. No question about it, I HAVE the BEST boyfriend in the entire world!!!)
  
• Tammy needs constant care. (and that is exactly the reason why my boyfriend is the best! ) : ')
  
• Tammy needs a great deal of support, and workers need to be attentive to Tammy's need to process her grief slowly. (Can someone tell me what I am grieving over?)
  
• Tammy needs a fan blowing on her constantly because she has difficulty breathing. (no comment)
  
• Princess Tammy needs a MAJOR reality check (whatever!!!)

I'm Feeling Sketchy! + color & design class!!!

It's been 6 days since my first sketching class and I think that I have shown some pretty damned good progress! I still need lots & lots & lots of practice, but at least I 'm in the right ballpark now!! Last week I felt like I was supposed to be playing ball, but I was stuck holding a frisbee. Now when I look at my first sketches I am totally blown away, and proud of my progress!!
I met with a tutor (another fashion sketching instructor at the school) yesterday, and it was like instant clarity. She was awesome, & all of a sudden, stuff was clicking, my hands were doing things with a pencil that I never thought possible, & my freakishly tall girls started to look a slight bit more human. I say a "slight bit" because they just aren't human with those freaky long legs! But that's the way they are supposed to look. I have 20 sketches due tomorrow, 15 front poses, & 5 back poses. I am still super intimidated by the back pose.
I had my first color & design class. Look at all of the cool stuff that I got. There is more to come. Some of the tools & supplies were back ordered from the book store. My first assignment is to create a design using positive & negative space.

What about knitting you all ask? Yeah, "What about knitting?!!" I DO touch yarn when I am at work, and that's about the extent of it for this week. With all of the sketching, my hands & wrists are beyond exhausted. And since I don't really want to have a second surgery on my elbows... I have decided to not push it.

I've Got A Secret....

Well gang, I'm letting the cat out of the bag, literally & figuratively!!! The secret tweed hat project for the shop is DONE! I couldn't resist. I just had to do it. I had to make a tweed kitty hat. I struggled (for about 20 seconds) on whether to make it in a black, brown, natural, or other color that an actual cat might be. Then the super dreamie Rowan Yorkshire tweed aran in watery, grabbed me by the chi chis & it was a done deal right then & there! Lucky for me & my cat hat, Mae, another lovely AP employ, did her tweed hat in Donegal pumpkin tweed & had enough leftover for me to contrast the mice & ears. So what do you guys think? We put it in the window today & I gleefully listened while folks commented on how damned cute & adorable it is. And of course... I mean come on... it's a watery blue tweed cat hat, complete with dead mice!

School Daze.... 1 & 2

I'm baaack! Lemme catch ya' all up on the last couple of days. The first photo is of the ever popular, often sought after FIDM tote bag. Anyone who lives or spends any time near downtown S.F. has seen these bags, usually in packs of 4 or more at a time. In fact whenever someone asked WHERE I would be going to school & I told them FIDM, one of the first things out their mouths would be, "OH WOW! You are going to be one of those hot chicks that carries those cool bags!!" Yep, that pretty much sums ME up, "hot chick with a cool bag". The photo on your right is one of the FABULOUS (Stephanie, that was for you!) views from our FABULOUS balconies at school. FIDM occupies the 4th, 5th, 6th, & 7th floors of a big ole building in downtown S.F., Union Square, i.e. the shopping mecca. I took this photo while I was waiting for my first class to begin, that is I took a break from knitting to take this pic.
So here is the rundown: (note, each class is 2 hours & 45 minutes long)

• Fashion Sketching I -Thursdays @ Noon, Room #730, Instructor Teresa Lehane...

I hope that you all know how much I love you, and that is the ONLY reason I am willing to humiliate myself by showing off my first "fashion" sketches. I have never really sketched anything before. I had to draw a dozen or so garments as part of my application project in order to get accepted into this program, I have doodled, and.... Yeah, that's pretty much it! So these pathetic excuses for "fashion" sketches are in fact my FIRST attempt at sketching with any kind of instruction. NOTE>>>these are "fashion" sketches, i.e. they are SUPPOSED to look like aliens, it's called the "nine head figure"<<< I will admit, I was nervous in class when the instructor asked how many of us sketched or drew everyday, & 1/3 to 1/2 the class raised hands.... UGH! BUT... My new friend Stephanie (If you're reading, Hi Stephanie!!), who is amazing in the realm of sketching, is in the same class!! So I felt much better having her near by. She offered to teach me to sketch in exchange for me teaching her to knit! No Problemo!! When I left class that day, I was feeling a bit concerned about my potential. A day later, I stand back & look at my maiden voyage into sketching & am pretty happy about my FIRST go at it. There is a sketching tutor that I plan to spend some with. I KNOW that I can do this, & do it well DAMMIT!! The instructor is very nice, she played the soundtrack to "Pulp Fiction" while we worked. btw... Our first homework assignment, sketch 20 figures in a week. Was anyone counting how many times I used the words "sketch" or "sketching"?

• Success Seminar -Thursdays @ 3 P.M. Room # 601 Instructor shall remain nameless...

the short story here.... I am going to do everything in my power to get out of completing this course!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!! There is no photo for this class, just close your eyes & picture a HUGE deep paper cut, squeeze the juice of an entire lemon into it, then sprinkle some salt. So anyway, I went into this class with a very open mind, thinking, yeah this might be cool. NOT!! It is designed to help new students assess themselves & identify & strengthen their study habits, learn to balance school, social life, work, and manage stress. I have been school before, I have worked as a manager in the adult world for 15 years . This class is a fat waste of my time. I am pretty sure that I am older than the teacher, & I use the word "teacher" ever so loosely! The other students in this particular class.... I won't go there! Anyway......

• Textile Science for Fashion Design I -Fridays @ 8:30 A.M. Room # 414 Instructor Julie Stonehouse...

I really enjoyed this class today! The photo below is of my text book (the big ass blue binder), my textile swatch book (172 swatches, which we all had to affix into the book & then write in the info about each & every swatch), my picker (which is the magnifying glass thingy with a gauge type ruler to count individual threads), & my textile dictionary!
I was GIDDY!! The instructor is super cool, & she grew up in my hometown. She "collects" movie clips that reference textiles, so she played a clip from the movie "Young Frankinstein". Anyone have any idea which clip that would be??? I will reveal it in my next post! The other students were friendly. Julie asked us to introduce ourselves & say what our super power would be if we could choose. Most people wanted to be invisible, fly, or read minds, all very cool things. But one gal said that she would want to be able to heal people because she hates to see people sick or in pain. I nearly welled up & cried right there, it just don't get any sweeter! Overall this has been the most pleasant class yet, I am in LOVE with the subject matter, & I don't have to stress over sketching anything! ; )

Yarn Porn Quickie...

I don't have a lot of time this week to jabber on the way that I normally do. Orientation was on Monday, it was a hoot that I will detail later. Classes begin tomorrow for me, & I am a bit nervous. My first class is at 8:30 tomorrow morning. It is Sketching for Fashion Design I, there are 3 or 4 sketching classes over the 2 year program. I cannot draw worth a hill of beans!! That only means that I have TONS of room for improvement! right? hehe, nervous chuckle.
In case I won't be back here for a few days, I did want to share some pictures of the newest members of my fiber family...

First, I'd like you to meet "Good n' Plenty". Rowan is quickly becoming my favorite member of our fiber family tree. They call her Chunky Print, but this little vixen, strutting her sassy stuff in sweet shades of pink, with just a hint of bad girl black is sure to be a heartbreaker! She will most likely grow up to be a hat to set off my new houndstooth coat. So back to her namesake... Was I the only one who loved those candies? My entire family HATED them. Now I admit, I was never a huge black licorice fan... So maybe it was just a color thing back then too! Now that I think back, I enjoyed looking at them, arranging them, & then REarranging them by color, more than I enjoyed eating them.

And the child that I swore I would never have... My prior fiber prejudice has been set straight!! Yes folks, I took in a happy, healthy, bouncing baby of Noro Big Kureyon in color # 9. And there is no mistaking my love for her, she is NOT a store sample being knitted up for the trade of greater, prettier, smarter, more talented yarn, she is mine, and I will love her as my own. She has no immediate plans or aspirations, we are currently just enjoying her presence.

And then there are the twins, the "wild one" & the "snooty one". Obviously they are not identical, but they sure do set each other off beautifully. (the adoption of these two was sponsored by Monica Kim. It was her gift certificate who made this union possible) Wild child, Bubbles, originates from Prism in St. Petersburg, Florida. She is a custom dyed yarn, "Alpine", & 100% nylon. In fact it was her lipstick colored cousin, Tulle, that I worked on for a store sample a few weeks ago. And then there is little Miss Debbie Bliss Cashmerino Aran, well everyone already knows all about her & her pretentious background. These two will certainly be lifelong companions, loosely knit friends, who will make appearances around my loving neck.