Thursday, September 29, 2011

sluuuuump


Sorry for my lack of posts/anything interesting. I have been in a creative slump lately. laaaaame. So I have been trying to channel all this slump non-energy into cleaning energy. It is actually sort of working. We are over halfway done deep cleaning our basement which was a horror fest for reasons that is not entirely our fault. And I am trying to go through all my crap to get rid of clutter. My mom gave me this book called Clear Your Cluter with Feng Shui and it is about as ridiculous as it sounds but it works if you put things into a realistic perspective with a positive outlook. I know it's a bit of a stretch but it feels good to get rid of a bunch of stuff I don't need. (and I have a LOT. I am a really bad hoarder)

Hopefully this will change my slump luck into creative productiveness luck.

And here are some things that caught my eye in London. I want to go back!! so bad!!




Monday, September 5, 2011

WE HEART WOOL!


Hola, it's Wool Week!
This is the week to promote and appreciate (even more than you already do I am sure!) wool as a great natural fiber! I did not know that such a week existed, but you can learn more about it on this LINK!

To educate and promote the great presence wool has as a natural renewable fiber in fashion, www.fashionfeelings.com decided to do a lookbook competition.

Please consider voting for me or participating because we all know that wool is a wonderful thing.




Saturday, September 3, 2011

London, I miss you


What was in my bag at all times in London.

1. self machine knitted striped socks
2. yoshitomo nara planner with my business card
3. so-en magazine from the japan centre
4. fluffy balls of yarn from bricklane and prick my finger
5. target wallet with pounds and most importantly, my oyster card!
6. assorted knitting needles in its case from mom
7. target doggy pencil case full of pens, sanitizer, & carmex (his mouth opens!)
8. us passport

Wednesday, August 24, 2011

Antwerpen


I am going through customs to enter Belgium. I show my passport to the woman at the counter, waiting for my special stamp that declares "Yay I am in Belgium!" Anticipating this great moment, I watch her pause before she smashes the stamp down on my passport. She looks down at me and asks "Why are you coming to Belgium today?"

I tell her what has been on my mind since February, "To go to the MOMU in Antwerp!" with a huge grin on my face. I have been waiting for this moment for months. I was going to see the Unravel exhibition at the MOMU. I was finally going to see the knit pieces that have been my inspiration for pursuing my love for knitting in art. I was going to see works by Sandra Backlund, Mark Fast, Sonia Rykiel, etc etc. OH MY GOODNESS!!!

She looks at me and says "What is that?" I answer, "A museum," and she responds with "You have come all the way to Belgium for one museum?"


"Well.... Yes...."


A very awkward moment I shared with this lady.

But she stamped my passport anyway. So I went to the MOMU, and it was brilliant!

The exhibition wasn't only about garments as an end product, which I really appreciated. I thought it was a very comprehensive exhibit that went through knitting history, affects on society, and its processes. There was something for both people that don't know knitting at all and those who have been doing it forever.


For those of you who missed it, try to buy the catalogue online. It is worth it!

Friday, August 19, 2011

Knitting Worshop



I participated in a knitting workshop at Central Saint Martins last week. It was short but full of new information and techniques that I tried to cram into my head. We spent most of the workshop learning these new techniques which the students then will hypothetically use in their future projects. I thought I knew a thing or two about knitting machines, but this class proved that there is SO MUCH MORE for me to learn. The only complaint is that I wish the class was longer!!! I had a great teacher, Alice Wellbeloved, who is amazing. Seeing her samples of her knit textiles blew my mind. And the samples she showed us were all done on a standard home knitting machine! Oh the possibilities are endless with even just a home machine. We had a guest cottage industry knitter, Amy Hall, come in to show us some of her pieces from her previous collection and a sneak peak of her new summer collection! Coincidentally I had already been following her through blogger. The wonders of the internet! Again, another inspiration to see someone start a business on their own doing what they love. I met some really nice people from all over the world in this workshop, and it felt like home to be in a room full of students. Creepy I know, but I really like it when the whole room sounds like a sweatshop spilling out colorful crazy knits. I am going to try to take another class this winter or next summer. I am crossing my appendages!


I was going to show you pictures of my samples from the workshop, but an overzealous janitor must have gotten his/her hands on them because they disappeared on the last day of class. Oh woe is me. Just means I have to make more samples which is probably a good thing. Instead here are photos of half of a room full of home knitting machines (the other half industrial knitting machines), and MY FIRST PAIR OF FULLY FASHIONED SOCKS OFF THE KNITTING MACHINE! Since these were done not on a double bed, they have a seam on the inside, and I know that they are just socks, BUT it is still awesome to me.

Basically, I loved taking this class and I have to go back to take another. There is no age limit, you don't have to be a student, you just have to shell out the cash and you can attend. I realllllly recommend others to do it if they can. Saint Martins is apparently moving from their South Hampton location to a new place on Kings Cross so next year it will be in a new fancy beautiful building! GO GO GO!

Cheers!

Saturday, August 6, 2011

London Yarn Stores

Ok, I am doing a really bad job updating so I will try to catch up on my trip.

I am loving England way more than I thought I would. It just has so much history and I have had really great hosts this week who have taken me around A LOT. I have been really lucky to be able to see not only London, but other more rural parts of England as well. It is just beautiful here. After spending my first week in London, I forgot that the rest of England actually has GRASS, and living plants. So many hydrangeas! I love it. My sister and I go back to London tomorrow and I start my class at Central Saint Martins on Monday. We'll see how that goes...

Here is a list of yarn stores I have gone to in London. They have a lot of them but the ones I have gone to are pretty different from each other.

This is my favorite yarn store that I have been to in London. They have a knitted stork in a nest of yarn in one corner and a little mushroom/flower scene upside down on the ceiling in the other corner. It is full of upcycled yarn (yarn made out of discarded materials such as old t-shirts or plastic) as well as regular yarn. They have all of this in crazy fun colors and a knitted sink in the back!!!! The two girls working there were really kind and inviting. They made me want to own my own yarn shop. It is nice to NOT see examples of really boring cardigans and shawls and 3284932794 baby stuff for once. Granted, some of the stuff there is weird, but it is nice to see something different and creative. It was hard for me to choose what I wanted, so I left with a bunch of stuff. Problem solved :)
This is some of what I left with. I am ridiculously excited to make stuff with it.

I went to a vendor who had some beautiful Israeli 100% merino that is washable. WHA???? Yeah, it is unbelievably soft and I got 2 balls of it. That sounds weird, but it is true.

JOHN LEWIS: It is like a small Joann's but in a department store. Convenient with a big selection but nothing too special.

I KNIT: Regular knitting store. A good place to look at a large selection of books on knitting. The highlight is the cute small dog that sleeps on the couch. The owner looked really unenthused or maybe I came on a bad day?

I tried haggling sort of and it didn't really work. I am a horrible haggler. But I still got 3 balls of yarn for 5 pounds. Not too bad but I could have done better. For some reason I am really attracted to lace weight hairy yarn but I fail to remember when I buy it how frustrated I get when I am trying to knit with it... Hopefully I will push myself through it when I use this.

This yarn store is so very cute. They have a great selection but it is not cheap or even close to cheap. But this is the only place I have found yarn from Habu Textiles which I looooooooove. So having a weak spot for cool yarn, I went ahead and broke the bank buying some Habu stainless steal/silk yarn as well as its cotton boucle which I probably didn't need but still love.

Probably the all around best place to go for anything related with yarn. It is mostly directed towards weavers, but there are a LOT of options for knitters too. They have the biggest range of colors I have seen yet. It is like a twin of the Yarn Barn in Lawrence. Except they also have a basket of abaca for some reason? I asked what they used it for and the girl at the counter had no idea... so I bought some to experiment with, along with some mercerized cotton in different colors... I am not going to have any room in my suitcase!

Ok so that was probably really boring for most of you, but it is a good way for me to remember what I liked and disliked and if anyone ever ends up in London looking for some yarn shops, here is a small list. Maybe I was a cat in my past life because I LOVE YARN! and cats.
i miss kitty!

Saturday, July 16, 2011

Before Trip

I am leaving for England in a few days. I am so excited and nervous I could throw up. gahhh.
I will try to take many photos and will put up updates as much as I can. If it wasn't for the Center for Craft Creativity and Design's Windgate Grant, I would not be able to embark on this life changing journey, so THANK YOUUUUUUUU!!!!

Here is my very loose itinerary:

July 19-28: London, England. Pretty much staying in the city. Going to V&A, National Museum, Saatchi Gallery, White Cube, UCL museums, etcetc. Trying to not be as touristy as I will inevitably look.

July 28 - August 6: My sister meets up with me and we will be traveling together to Christina's grandparents in a more rural area of England, experiencing the country.

August 6-13: We go back to London so I can take my workshop at Central Saint Martins!!!! This is where I will be acting as a sponge to absorb everything I can learn there.

August 13-16: On the way to Antwerp, Belgium, primarily to see the Unravel knitwear exhibition at the MOMU!!@()@*@!)@# I am ridiculously excited about seeing this with my own two eyesssss! To see so many of my inspirations all in one place! not through a computer screen!!!!

August 16-20: Going to beautiful Barcelona. Coincidentally I will actually spend a part of my summer in Spain.

Speaking of Summer in Spain, ConcreteCatwalk did a small review of the show. There was some really nice feedback for all the designers. You can read them Here
Here is what she said about my collection:

"favorite parts: a very unique interpretation of the crocheted trend, i loved the exploration of the different types of garments that are not typically crafted using yarn, the bold solid colors were a great match for the medium used

room for improvement: because of the avant garde nature of this collection, i think i would have liked to see some more interesting makeup and hair styles."

And I will conclude this post with a photo of a sock monkey I made from a kit that I got as a gift from my boss at Anthropologie. (Thanks Ben K.!) I was supposed to knit it a winter cap and scarf, but it is so ungodly hot outside so I knit a summer dress instead.


ByeBye!


Tuesday, June 28, 2011

Foot Traffic


(photo by Tiffany Matson)

Foot Traffic, a local company that sells really awesome legwear, was kind enough to supply all the legwear to the designers of the W.18th st. Fashion Show for FREE! and of course I took that offer because who can resist free tights? in every color imaginable? I think I went there three times because I couldn't choose from the plethora of colors. I recently had an interview with them about my collection at the fashion show, and it will be posted up on the Foot Traffic blog here.

Thursday, June 16, 2011

Fashion Show!

The 18th St. Fashion show was a success! I can't believe I survived my first fashion show experience. It helped to have my friends there for makeup and modeling. So really it felt like we were just playing dress up with some friends, except there were a lot of people watching...

Here are some photos of my stuff...





photo credits: tiffany matson, steve thompson, michael robert bulikus, jeff evrard

Tuesday, June 7, 2011

printed textile processes...

So I've been getting ready for the fashion show coming up. We just had our dress rehearsal yesterday and it went pretty well. This fashion show has definitely been a new way of working for me. It is not just about the garment, but also thinking about hair, makeup, nails, shoes, the entire picture. I have a lot of learning to do.

I have been looking at other designers and how they use the knit/crochet in their fashion work, and I came upon some designers that use the image of the textile process as a surface design rather than the structure. Just interesting to see how people use the same thing in different ways...

Christopher Kane(f11) uses actual crocheted granny squares and a print of a granny square on leather... I don't really know how I feel about grandma squares. It has a pretty bad reputation, but I feel that it is pretty gutsy of Kane to use it in high fashion. or maybe stupid... I haven't decided for sure but right now I think I like it because of how he pairs the super 70's old grandma feeling with 90's teen girly lava lamp feeling. Mixing two totally different generations and age group interests to create one for the in-between. iiiiinteresting.... I am now stroking my imaginary beard.

In Proenza Schouler's "shibori dresses", it looks like a print of a negative of a crocheted piece. It adds texture in a more visual than a physical way. This is probably a lot easier and cheaper to do. Also a lot cooler for the summer. Smart thinking. I want one, but then again, I want everything from them.





Thursday, May 19, 2011

Done

So a lot has happened since I last posted. I had my senior thesis show and I graduated, finally. It is a wonder how I am still alive or sane. I had a LOT of help from my friends and family. It was a group effort to say the least. It was a beautiful day both days and there was a really great turnout to the show. All's well that ends well... I hope.

Here are some photos from the show...



and I was in the Carolina Arts News blog... here! wohoo

Thursday, April 28, 2011

WINDGATE!!!

I got the Windgate Fellowship that I applied for which was mentioned in a post earlier last December!!! I was officially notified at the end of March, but I decided I should wait till the Center for Craft, Creativity and Design updated their website so I had proof that this actually happened. :-D

This is a little tid-bit that was in our school's artnotes/newsletter to explain what it is.


And here is the Center for Craft, Creativity and Design's website to see other winners and their work: Windgate

I am very excited to say the least

Friday, April 22, 2011

Senior Thesis Show!!!


Here is the postcard image of the announcement of my senior thesis show!
I will be having a joint show with Courtney Soldan-Els on May 6th and everyone should come who can make it!


Thursday, April 21, 2011

Anthropologie

So here are some of the images I said I would post of some of the things I worked on during my internship at Anthropologie as a visual display intern a week ago... oops.