Fair Isle Near Fiasco

I just about gave up on my first Fair Isle knitting project...the Drifting Kid's Raglan Pullover from Inspired Fair Isle Knits by Fiona Ellis. Fiona, your designs are lovely, but almost everyone knows (and I do now) that Fair Isle is meant to be knitted in the round. That way you can knit one color English style and one Continental style without having to rearrange the yarn. This pattern actually calls for you to knit the front, back, and sleeves as flat pieces which means that you have to find a way to do the color work from the purl side on every other row. I found it extremely difficult, if not impossible to do this, which resulted in me frogging the project twice before finally deciding to modify the pattern and knit it in the round.

I choose a different colorway since I couldn't find the colors in the photo in a washable yarn I liked. I'm knitting it in Plymouth Encore DK. I'm working on the first sleeve now and hope to have this finished in time to take to my grand daughter next month. I was a little displeased about how the fair isle portion of the knit pulls in (even though I used a larger needle and tried to hold the yarn loosely on the back) , but I think after I block the sweater, it will be just fine. I do need to find just the right buttons.

Trip of a Lifetime

Last week was JJ's 60th birthday and we needed to do something very special. I gave him his choice of the trip he wanted to make and he chose to visit our favorite spot in Arizona, Green Valley. We always enjoy seeing the cactus, thriving in the warm (thankfully it didn't get above the mid 90's and was frequently in the 60's-80's), frequenting our favorite thrift store haunts, and just relaxing in my "villa". In some ways it was an "ordinary" pleasure for us....

new thrifted chair on left...it's a wonderful weathered wood...and cost $2.00

Seasonal views of the local flora

We had some very special treats on this trip. On the way down, we stopped the first evening at Jacob Lake and drove in to see the North Rim of the Grand Canyon. See my post below for more photos.

On the way home, we drove through Monument Valley (a surprising treat in No. Arizona/So. Utah) to Moab and spent the night. We had a wonderful dinner of antipasto salad and cheese bread at Pasta Jays, walked around the lovely down town area where we saw unique t-shirts made with the local red dirt. In the morning, we headed out to Arches National Park where we spent hours driving and walking around to see sites like these.

Check our my Flickr collection for all the photos from our incredible trip. It inspired us to discuss the notion of taking a long trip cross country visiting the many National Parks we haven't seen.

North Rim Delights

Recently, we traveled by the Grand Canyon and decided this time to make a stop at the North Rim. If you haven't been there, it is so different from the South Rim, you really should visit. It's uncrowded and serene, and the views are breath taking. We drove in from Jacob Lake in late afternoon and spent the early evening hours watching the canyon change with the light. There are several viewpoints that give different vantage points. We enjoyed Cape Royal about 23 miles from the Lodge the most. We saw no more than 10 people in the Cape Royal are, including a film crew that was there to catch the evening light.

I've posted a slide show on the right side of the blog which I will leave up for a while so you can see all the gorgeous views we enjoyed. You can also go here to see the album in larger view.

Worldless Wednesday-Photo by JJ

Almost Wordless Wednesday

Art Vs. Craft, Along the Continuum

This week's Etsy Blogger's topic is : 1).Art vs. Craft: Is it an issue / non-issue and how do you feel about the argument?

Here's some food for thought I found by Googling which you may find of interest as I did:http://www.divinecaroline.com/article/22328/43478-debate-art-vs--craft-continues

After finding much to agree with in that post, I came upon several posts on this blog, Textile Arts Resource Guide. I liked how Mary Sullivan Holdgrafer, a textile artist, described craft and art as a part of a continuum . Personally, I think each piece I create may belong on a different spot on that continuum although I do primarily think of myself as a craftsperson. Charles Lewton-Brain, a master goldsmith, agreed that a person can be both artist and craftsperson and articles they produce can be both also. He also expounded on that idea which I support that artists and craftspersons self-designate.

"The Canadian Professional Relations tribunal, after spending months on the question decided that 'artists self-designate', that for legal purposes you are an artist if you say you are or a crafts person if you say you are."

I think I liked these reflections from Bruce DeBoer, a photographer, about art and craft best:

"What’s the difference between art and craft? Oh … about $1000. How about: Craft comes with instructions and art doesn’t? Or how about: Crafts take skill and art doesn’t need any? Nah - too confrontational.

“A good simple definition of art is the manifestation of human emotion through medium. Notice I’m not saying good or great art, just art. Art is a starting point for expression. If you reveal art you are an artist. A child who explores finger paints is an artist – maybe even the purest type.We all know artists; the most random of thinkers. They are driven to emote. It’s in there and it must come out, no practice required. To practice is to do..

“Craft is guided by an external force. Craft’s starting point isvoid of internal emotional expression. Practice a craft and your skills grow. They are measurable. Honed over a lifetime your mastery can reach great heights. It’s easy to recognize fine craftsmanship because it took great skill to produce..

“Art schools teach skills or the craft of communicating emotion.The schools of craftsmanship teach high skill but will also move students toward self expression. It’s as though they are teaching the same thing from opposite ends of a spectrum..In the middle of the art craft spectrum you’ll find fine art and beautiful craft sitting side by side; indistinguishable over time like paintings of the Dutch masters. Great artists become skilled at communicating their emotions and fine crafts people become emotional
expressionists through their medium. It’s the same thing but approached from different directions. Neither is easy. Neither is superior. "

So what are you, artist or craftsperson, or do you, like me, find yourself moving along the continuum?

May Featured Blogger

Check out May's featured Blogger for the Etsy Bloggers Street Team. It's the talented CreateAThought who blogs here and whose Etsy shop contains cute journals like this one with all the buttons. I like this description in her blog profile:

Everyday you are creating thoughts. Thoughts that are interesting and beautiful profound and deep silly and funny. Whatever your thought style is they should be recorded. CREATEaTHOUGHT's mission is to help you do just that.

Wordless Wednesday

Chef Moi

My version of Pollo Genovese with my first batch of homemade San Francisco sourdough. (I use less butter/oil and leave out the olives and capers.) The bread wasn't sour enough for my liking, so I'll be adapting the recipe and trying again. I loved the texture of this bread, though.

Manic Monday

Manic Monday #166
Which household chore do you dislike the most?

Cleaning the cat litter

What's the best museum you've ever visited?

That's a tough one. In the late 60's I spent 6 months in England and 3 months touring the rest of Europe. I was in many museums. For some reason, I seem to remember a little museum in Paris, the Jeu de Paume best. I just did a Google search and discovered it is no longer a museum of impressionist art. However, I learned from the Encylcopedia Brittanica online that it was "built as a tennis court and later converted into an Impressionist art museum and subsequently into a photography museum."

"The Jeu de Paume closed its doors in 1986, with the majority of its collection transferred to another Paris landmark, the Musée d’Orsay." Since I am a tennis player, that history gives me even more appreciation for the structure.

It's Star Wars Day today. I've never seen any of the Star Wars movies. What "common" movies haven't you seen?

I have only seen two of the Harry Potter movies.

Downsizing

Week by week as I do my grocery shopping, I've noticed the amount we spend per week going up. Since I tend to buy many of the same things from week to week, I've noticed some of them actually changing prices. For example, I used to buy a Duncan Hines brownie mix for $1. It's been going up pretty regularly and today it was "on special for" over $1.40. Increased prices on some things can just sneak by you because the manufacturers have started downsizing. What was 8 0z is now 7 or 7.6 and so on.

This morning I made the Bisquick Muffins Kate blogged about here. I swirled in a little cinnamon and they were scrumptious, by the way. However, that meant I needed to buy more paper muffin cups when I later went to the store. I've had a box of them for quite a while and I used the last of them this morning. When I came home with the replacement item from the store, I was shocked to see how much the size of the package had been downsized....from 88 to 36 muffin baking cups in the package. I remember years ago that these came in packages that lasted forever, probably hundreds of them. I doubt the price was reduced accordingly when the package changed. That seems like stealthy downsizing to me.

First Saturday Market of the Season

Our local Etsy street team is cooperating on a booth at the local Saturday market which kicked off today at 8:00 am with a pancake breakfast. Three of us shared the 10x10 booth space. My team mates were Kate (middle in photo) of KatieBlairDesings and Alesha (at left in photo) of 2littlemen. Kate makes cards and other original paper goods and Alesha makes head bands, bibs, and other items from cute fabric. You should check out both of their wonderful shops on Etsy. All of Kate's items are covered up in the photo because they were starting to get wet. Also we'd pulled the tables in as far as we could under the tent by that time. It wasn't long after that we decided to pack up.

I spent hours yesterday making a skirt for my table, which doesn't really show in the photo. It's gathered black fabric that I attached to some webbing. I added Velcro on the back and on the table to attach it. Since it's about 12 feet long, that was a lot of gathering! It works slick and best of all, the fabric repels water (not something I planned, but it was appreciated in today's weather).

It started sprinkling about an hour after we arrived (not long after setting up) and was raining constantly the last hour or longer. We finally closed up shop early and I packed all my soggy items and supplies home. It's taken the rest of the day to get everything dried out.

Still, I think it was a success. I made seven sales and got one custom order plus some potential future customers, not bad for a rainy day when most people stayed home.

My lessons learned for the day:

1) consider making waterproof signs and price tags (or stay home when it's going to rain)

2) bring umbrellas (or stay home when it's going to rain)

3) wear a waterproof jacket (or stay home when it's going to rain)

See a theme here ?