Crafting Bravely

People choose to be brave in all sorts of crazy ways. They take potentially deadly jobs (like police officer, soldier, drug mule, or convenience store clerk), run marathons in Antarctica, wear swimming suits in heels on stage, swim with crocodiles, or stand up in front of an auditorium full of high schoolers. My way is to take this wool item that I spent days making and to throw it in the dryer. Sure, it's not as risky as being a drug mule, but the rewards are greater.

Recently, I made a big batch of small circles in a variety of colors. I can no longer remember my original intent when I made these circles. My terrible memory is a curse and a blessing.

I was chopping green olives to make this amazing recipe when I realized how much I love the pimento-stuffed olive. Aesthetically speaking and the taste-equivalent word, olives are the bomb. (Are people still saying that?) I like how they line up all off-centered. They do an amazing job of combining red and green and not looking Christmassy.

I came up with this design.

I squared up the motif following this intricate, brilliantly written pattern. Then I did it again a zillion times. Literally, a zillion times. Then I ate some goldfish. Then I sewed together all the squared-up, off-centered, olive-inspired circles.

Here comes the part where my bravery was really tested. The bag and I were alone in a dark room. One single bulb hung above our heads. "It can be as easy as you telling me what I want to know and me walking out this door." But the bag refused to talk.

"I'll ask you one last time. Is it more fiscally advantageous for me to buy bulky yarn or worsted weight and use two strands?"

When the bag still didn't talk, I took it by it's lengthy strap and held it under scalding hot water with dishwashing liquid. Then I dripped hot, soapy water all over the floor all the way to the dryer into which I tossed the bag and slammed the door shut. I did not photograph this part. I've learned from others' mistakes of taking pictures of themselves torturing bags.

Since I wanted the bag to be seriously felted, I let it dry for almost an hour, re-wet it, and dried it even longer.

When this bag came out of the dryer, it was oddly misshapened and even smaller. I use a very tedious, mathmatically complicated, scientifically exact method of reshaping.

I call it The Very Tedious, Mathmatically Complicated, Scientifically Exact Back of the Kid Chair Shaping Method.

The next issue I must tackle is whether or not I should line the bag. This decision will really test the limits of my bravery.

Note.

Vermont Edition on VPR.net has a stream called "The Year of Making Things." It was aired Tuesday but you can listen to it anytime by going on their website.

Anticipating spring.

I have a cloth doll I would like to make a flapper dress for. I am watching the series "House of Elliot" through Netflix. It's about two sisters who start a fashion house. I love the costumes! I watch the episodes, then skim through the DVD again to stop at the costumes I love and sketch them. All those flowing fabrics, beading, embroidery...

Here is a pile of projects in the works. Fabris for bags, a cloth doll waiting to be assembled and dressed, beads, furry fabric for mice and bears...

I am also working on tote bags with a goat on them - see the sketch?

Here are two bags I have made in anticipation of spring. The fabric is from Nido in Burlington, Vermont. http://nidovt.com/. Below is another one. I need to put in grommets and attach the shoulder straps.

I also have matching checkbook covers. Next, Kelee will knit sweater sets in coordinating shades of blue, pink and green to go with these bags! (Add your own pearls.)

Scenes from our opening.

Inspired by Mullets

I'm pretty free-wheeling in my crocheting. I tend to make up my pattern as I go along, and I seldom repeat a pattern. At least that's how I used to be. A few months ago I crocheted my first series. I started to make a blanket for my daughter using these scrap yarns. She's five and very into her "favorite color", which changes daily but tends to be pink, purple, glitter, or shiny.
I won't give you the details of my stash overflow problem that I was trying to correct, but I will say that the first step in correcting this problem is finding a good pattern. I was following this pattern

http://www.coatsandclark.com/Crafts/Crochet/Projects/AfghansThrows/LW1646+Crochet+Hexagon+Throw.htm

As if to encourage me to sit for hours and hours and crochet, Netflix added Bones as a Watch Instantly selection. Whole seasons with no commercials. I watched Bones obsessively for at least three seasons straight and worked on this blanket.

As I worked, I imagined how one day Bones and Booth would find my bones wrapped in this blanket under a stash pile gone amiss and how much they'd appreciated the intricate handiwork and the gentle shape of my bones. "Her ass bones indicate that she spent hours sitting," Bones would say. Booth, examining my couch would answer, "Bones, I think I got something. There are definite ass indentations here. And check out her recently watched queue." The beauty of the blanket and the indentations would lead them to profess their love for each other. Then I ran out of some of the main colors. As I could see it, I had a few choices:

1. buy more of the yarn that I was trying to use up

2. use other yarns that I had stashed regardless of color

3. take a break

I took a break.

During my break from the blanket, I was making celebrity slouchy beanies so that even regular people could look like celebrities at the airport in those "They're just like us" trash magazine layouts. When you are making a hat, you really only have to count during the making of the crown. After that, it's pretty much stitch for stitch until you get to the brim. One day in a flash of celebrity trash magazine/Bones inspired genius, I decided to try to use one of the motifs as the crown of a hat. The colors were so intensely bright and pink that I tried to tone it down with some neutral colors like black, brown, and cream. I thought of the mullet. I really like hairstyles with a motto.

I liked the initial hat that I made and decided to make more.

The more hats I made, the more tweaks I made. I was trying different ideas with each hat to get the final product exactly as I was wanted. I always thought repeating the same pattern would be too boring for me (you know, because of my vast intelligence and creativity and laziness), but I actually found the process of trying to get the hat to be exactly right to be quite exciting. Watching that much Bones unleashed my inner meticulous nerd. I probably made ten hats before I got the hat that I really liked.

I altered it slightly to make a more slouchy beanie.

The mullet hats are now on sale at the Artist In Residence Gallery in Enosburg Falls, The Flying Disc also in Enosburg Falls, and at my etsy shop.

daffodil fairy finished.

This is the daffodil fairy sitting in an office chair holding her leaves. Her dress is yellow velvet lined with gingham. She has an underskirt of chiffon, underpants of floral cotton and lace, wings of painted chiffon and green tights with yellow velvet shoes. Her cap is velvet too.

Stone Collector and Crooked Stick Man.

See the show.

Come to Artist in Residence tonight.

Ethan made cheesecake.

Kelee is making magical food.

I am making cheese sticks - something new.

And we will be showing the results of our efforts in clay, stone, material and wool.

Daffodil Fairy.

This is a doll I made for a commissioned piece this past Christmas. I had never made a fairy before, nor had I copied an illustration, so this doll took some time to do since I wanted it to mimic the old time illustration as much as possible. After six different styles of wings - something that was also a first, I settled on painted chiffon around a wire frame. I had tried glittery wings, some of velvet - they were too heavy or too shiny. She is cute, I think.

What's new

We have an art opening This Thursday, January 6 at Artist in Residence in Enosburg Falls, Vermont.

Kelee will be showing her latest pendants in rock and clay and I have a crooked stick series of dolls that will be there.

The reception is from 5-8 p.m. and we'll make good food and provide beverages too so your tummies and hearts will be filled with magic and inspiration!

Hi.

Welcome to our new blog. Alison (that's me) and Kelee make up Mad Ox Designs. We will each write twice a month so you'll have weekly updates on the trials and triumphs of creating in northern Vermont.