Archive for February, 2006

• self portrait with owl needlecase

  Date: 2006.02.07 | Category: random, sewn | Response: 0

  
  Not what the teacher wanted, but typical of my primary school art efforts.

  In my lateral-thinking impatience, I’d decided against even rows for tapestries. Quicker. Nearly the same, really. My Mum supported me, my right as a child to view the world differently, to question and explore. She helped me choose a white/brown wool for the legs, tying the owl to the branch.

  The teacher hadn’t bothered to check what I was doing ’till I was almost done. Again. I remember the hot, darkish demountable* and the look on her face. There wasn’t time for me to do it over, I was to leave it as was.

  I was half disappointed, half defiant. I do like the thick fuzzy stars, like the way the different sized rows recall the horizon. The white lines in between are merely a mistake, my misunderstanding of the teacher’s instructions.

  Have I changed? No. I still wish I could foresee the consequences of the shortcuts I take, and I still believe in interesting accidents. But maybe now I’m willing to do it over, to try to pull it off consciously this time.

  * Demountables are temporary, moveble classrooms schools never have the funding to rebuild or replace.

• in the orange box

  Date: 2006.02.06 | Category: knit, sewn | Response: 1

  
  Well, if you’d've asked me 5 minutes ago whether I’ve done any craft since high school, I’d've said no, not really.

  However, I just went through my making things box, and found 2 orange/red scalves (one knit, one crochet, nearly done), 1 red jumper (barely started), wool for 2 baby jumpers, 2 tapestries (maybe a third done), 1 cross stitch and a half-sewn skirt. Crochet needles in various sizes with single balls of wool for practice, and two size 10 knitting needles. Oops!

  Plenty of things to keep me going, but perhaps I am just procrastinating in making Mr. February? I’ve cut out his pattern, knitted all the felted fabric parts … time to start cutting and sewing!!

  P.S. Guess my favourite colours?

• Japanese (& Vietnamese) wares

  Date: 2006.02.04 | Category: design | Response: 1

  
  
  
  I posted some of my collection of Vietnamese plasticware to Craftapalooza’s cookie cutter show off group. Strictly speaking not cookie cutters, more like cookie stamps. I imagine they’d be used to decorate the Vietnamese version of moon cakes, but don’t really know. Anyone?
  Yes, I love, love, love Marrickville too.

  Anyhow, got me thinking that I actually have 2 moulds for Japanese sweets, bought in the Nishiki market in Kyoto, from Aritsugu. Also a hairclip bought from Takashimaya and 2 koi hairpins from a craftshop … Yuemiya? We went to Tokyo, Kyoto and Berlin for our honeymoon. The first big trip overseas for both of us (now we wanna go back ;D).

  I’d love to be able to make hairclips like that … maybe one day. Funny, I bought 2 books (1, 2) on making Japanese sweets ’cause they were so yummy, knowing I’d never learn Japanese but thinking that maybe sometime with lots of patience and a dictionary I might be able to figure out the pictures. Well, guess who’s learning Japanese 101 next semester as a detour in her IT networking degree? That’s right, me!!

  P.S. I didn’t realise I’d be able to find a website for Aritsugu – I was just trying to spellcheck!

• maybe MoS

  Date: 2006.02.01 | Category: sewn | Response: 0

  Well, 2006 looks like being the year of challenging myself. Not only I have I felted for the first time and started a blog, but I’ve decided to attempt my first softie!

  Actually, making a softie is surprisingly confronting. You see, my Mum’s a visual artist (painting / drawing). I know she tries hard to steer away from commercial art. And a softie / plushy / stuffie is surely commercial art – cutesy, kitschy art at that. I guess commercial art would be almost too easy for Mum – she can do fine detail, perfectionist accuracy and patience, it’s just not what interests her. Whereas for me, trying to be a perfectionist is quite a challenge. So that’s why I’m trying a softie.

  To keep me on track & give myself a deadline, I thought I’d enter it into a Month of Softies. I’ve been reading about how MoS started here, ogling the galleries here. I was thinking my first softie might be a rabbit, but the theme for February is a “Heart-shaped Box“. Hmm, I can’t really see a rabbit as a box, heart-shaped or not.

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