taking it to the street

Still seats left in  Photo for Knitters  THIS WEEK at Hank of Yarn in Southaven MS - home turf of The Knit Girllls , doncha know- on Thursday eve April 12, and at YarnMart in Little Rock AR on Sunday April 15. Tempted? Or make it a weekend because...On a Craft Activism note, I'll be speaking and  helping  lead a yarnbombing at the Central Arkansas Library as part of the Arkansas Literary Festival on Saturday April 14th, at 11 (slideshow talk) and noon (hands on crafting). I am honored and quite amazed to be part of this. I can't wait to share what my book is about with the other truly literary authors on Friday at the cocktail reception and watch them struggle for composure. Ian Frazier, a writer I admire to bits, will be there. I wish I fit into the Tongue in Chic skirt from the book. That'd be just the thing. Or, at least a spectacle.

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I taught a new class, Photo Safari for Knitter/Crafters while in California. It's street photography meets handcrafting. We spend most of our time out & about. First, there are photographic calisthenics to warm up. For example, above. Limited amount of time, a limited space--in this case, the city block we were on-  and each person must shoot only versions of a single color.  Bossy, yes? I've got a ton of these visual squat-thrusts. They break you out of your box a little before we move on to subjects  like FO's in the streets and posing and action and choosing dfferent backgrounds....

Celeste Varner, Loop & Leaf owner, designer/author  & knitter extraordinaire with her beaded Girasole.

Karin & Sandy testing backgrounds & posing in an alley in Santa Barbara CA. Check out Karin's link for the photos--and also, her designs are pretty great. Sandy had to leave class, flying off for a work emergency in Mexico. She's a seismologist. Stressful for her--but fascinating to us all. And definitely a first in a knits' class.

Lori models her shawl on a borrowed downtown porch. Go to her link--she has such a wonderful blog, and scrolling down, you can see the images Mirna & Celeste are shooting.  Super talented group, they are. I get so seriously inspired in the classes that I don't know what to knit next... although, ahem, finishing something might be the way to go, right?

class acts

Slackerly blogging , I know! Before I touch another airplane bag of weird tasting crackers, let's get back to March and some  Photography for Knitters classes, all over the place. 

If this looks like fun and you happen to be in Little Rock Arkansas or Southaven MS , right by Memphis, then you could  join me at Yarn Mart or Hank of Yarn, respectively--next week! I'll also be showing slides & telling and leading some yarn bombing/making at the Arkansas Literary Festival, it's Craft Activism on Saturday afternoon, April 14th. Very cool--I am looking forward to every single minute of this adventure.

Jill and a display at the Wildfiber counter in Santa Monica CA. If I was one of those people who can decisively grab a skein or ten quickly, I would have- it's a very happy making yarn store. And I should have.True to my indecisive retail-challenged nature, not a single skein joined me. Fail!

The class, though, was win. Looking at the clothing & lack of sun, you'd think I was faking this as Santa Monica, right? Such an interesting & talented group, from beginner knitters to experienced designers. I wanted to add a happy hour segment to the class so we could all get better acquainted and look at each other's work.Maybe with a nice fruity cocktail. Return visit, on the to-do list.

Closer to home , last Saturday at Katonah Yarn in Katonah NY.  A sympatico group, we could have happily sat there, out of the gray drizzle surrounded by the welcoming yarniness, and chatted till midnight. (In fact, at times  we sounded like that was the plan.)  We were blessed with a mid-class driveby modeling by Carrie, full reportage with photos, here . Thanks to Kay's indoctrination good parenting , Carrie knows not to question the gleam in knitters' eyes when they are holding cameras and she is in a fabulous bulky cowl. Katonah's own Liz Kaplan is shown here with the traveling trio. Betsy brought her Fussy Cuts blanket (from Craft Activism) -brilliantly knit from Silk Garden Chunky. Why couldn't I have thought of that? Chunky=done faster yet still all the fun of the Noro.

Houseboat in Santa Barbara, back to Cali. Note lace curtains in porthole windows and brushed metal handmade chairs on sundeck. If I disappear and you hear about an incident at the Santa Barbara Marina where a woman shows up and commandeers one of the smallest vessels docked there, muttering something about just wanting a quiet place to knit.....well, no, I wouldn't know anything about that.

California travels: the unexpected

The thing about travel is, you just never know. The dry, sunny city can be chilly and rainy. <cough, LA> The little inexpensive motel a friend arranged near work can be charming beyond belief. A cheerful home away from home.

 

 Especially if, like me, you want to pretend your home is in Brazil.  Lunch with a client can be a delicious adventure and rev up a new project. (Thanks Craig!). A quick work errand can land you at an inspiring exhibit at the Craft and Folk Art Museum (CAFAM)

where artist Maximo Gonzalez  uses devalued currency-- money or materials like aluminum-  to make playful art that provokes. That tree on the upper right is a small detail in an amazing full wall collage from tiny cuts of devalued paper bills. The gift shop ? Need to return is all I am saying. There's a yarnbombing group meeting there monthly. (go! join!) They did a fabulous front window  installation that I failed to get a good image of (see rainy and chilly, above).

The El Segundo Slipt Stitchers Knitting Guild were as numerous, fun and opinionated as I was told in advance, but I didn't expect my carefully programmed pizzazzy talk to have technical issues 

while all 80+ of them waited.  Stress!  Not that they looked too concerned, right? It worked shortly after these photos by Ellen Bloom. (and yes, of course it ran flawlessly at 1 am for the test) . What an impressive group they are.

 

 I sat next to uber talented Ana Petrova for a while.  Her knitting, dyeing, spinning and freestyle designing combined with her sense of color wow me. See the knitted and beaded cuff jewelry, for instance. BTW check out her link for classes. It'll give you a creative kick in the butt. No doubt.

The smaller hands-on workshop with the Slipt Stitchers the next day was lively, heading straight into rowdy at times.  In fact, all three of the California workshops were awesome--but, that is very expected, so I'm saving it for my next post.

Lastly, unexpected and defeating: the needle cable that detached from the join (not the changeable tip but the join), releasing well over 300 stitches on my almost finished lovely Flying Home shawl. Glued back in, spent well over an hour of catching all the stitches and YO's--and then the other end join did the same. On a plane. Still to be restored.

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As of today there are 2 seats left ion the Katonah Yarn class this  Saturday 3/31  in Katonah NY, 12-3. And, other upcoming events, on my workshops page:  in Little Rock AR, Southaven MS , Minnnesota & New England.