clumps

I feel like things tend to happen all at once you know, like in clumps. Good and bad things, but nonetheless in clumps. It keeps me busy. I feel that there is probably a better word for this than clumps, but that is all I have right now.

Some photos of a shoot I did with Cameron Gee. Hopefully I will be able to post more up later. Enjoy.

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!

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!

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

knit garments

took some photos of my knit garments last week.
here are just a few.
keep in mind that i am no photographer
but with the help of christina's modeling and nathan's lighting skills,
they turned out pretty good.

scarves and hoods

i made stuff!
everything shown is knitted by hand and modeled by my sister nanaeeee

first big summer project

although it's summer, all the stresses of doing dumb responsible adult loan crap has been making me daydream about knitting again and knitting big. so i've started making some new chunky knot knit necklaces and have started machine knitting a gray strip to hopefully hand knit something like this...

but BIGGER! because bigger is better. not really, but in this case, it will be.

I have also been doing lots of net searching for wonderful knit inspirations done by other students/designers.

this is '09 graduate work by Sarah Benning from westminster. i actually found out about her by liz and kim who suggested i look at her work after seeing mine. and it's probably not a big surprise that i love the work she does.

Benning has such a solid concept/collection and a strong way to mix print work with knitting. something that i have a hard time executing.

gahhh envy! must keep working.

photo from (http://www.pickles.no/sideways-braid-bolero)

(http://www.catwalking.com/GRADUATES/GRAD_09/BA_shows/shows/Westminster/shows/01-Sarah%20Benning/pages/WSTM_09_BA_0030.html)