The Question of Content

The muse for this post was this Veritasium video – I started to share/ comment on Facebook, but quickly realized I was writing a small novel.

While I certainly don’t have the kind of subscriber or viewer numbers to really matter at this point anyway (and the shift in my time and attentions once grad school started slumped down what numbers I did have as I simply wasn’t making anything at that point), but this is something I have been seeing as well: The rise in time-sensitive video topics and click bait.

 

I haven’t posted anything myself in some months – either here or on Youtube. I’ve been working on some doll unboxing videos here and there since the start of the year, nothing to upload yet, just a number of them in various states of completion. And I have been hesitant to post what I have done, as many of those videos would now be considered “old news”.

The Moana doll that I got for Christmas? I haven’t even seen her for sale for over a month. Those Batman v. Superman: Dawn of Justice collector dolls from Mattel were only big right after that movie came out. Is it even worth the time at this point to finish editing the unboxing of the Batman doll I got? The big thing in the doll-world at this moment is the new Ken dolls. My most viewed blog post was from Feb 2016 when I wrote that comparison between all the new Barbies and Lammily. I’ve considered doing a companion for these new guys, but I would need to go buy the short Ken and there are already dozens of other blogs and videos at this point. So is it worth it? And even if I could manage to stay on top of every new release and quickly turn out new content for every new hot item, I certainly don’t have the income to buy every hot doll that comes out the moment it comes out. I really need to re-assess what kind of content I’m creating.

Readership has been steadily decreasing – I deeply appreciate those of you who stick around despite the periods of lull. 

Although the Spring semester ended nearly 2 months ago, I’ve not yet produced what I had hoped to. I’ve taken some of that time to just relax and allow myself to de-stress rather than quickly switch gears and just keep pushing myself. It’s been worth it. My creativity has started to flow again. I have ideas again. That urge to make things has come back — If you follow me on Facebook, you’ve already seen some of these results. (Sorry, Twitter people, I always mean to post there as well, I just don’t always remember).

I made this little bodhran and tipper just the other day.

I have roughly another month and a half left before the Fall semester begins. Let’s see what I can churn out in that time.

Re-Use Art Show: The New IDEA Store Event Space

Above: Classic photo recursivity – me taking a picture of Melissa Mitchell taking a picture of me taking a picture of her…

Long time readers of this blog will recall both my love of art and my previous posts about The IDEA Store and creative re-use art. On two separate occasions I participated in the Hatch Art Show. Recently, The IDEA Store expanded to include a new classroom as well as event space. This past weekend, on May 20th, 2016 to be specific, they held their grand opening of said event space. My camera and I were in attendance.

Before I get to the actual art, I’d like to share this photo of area artists Cindy Sampson and Melissa Mitchell. I don’t think I can fully express just how wonderful these two women are and how much they inspire me. Not only are they talented artists but they are good, kindhearted people and great friends. While I had taken a couple of standard photos of these two together, I managed to snap this shot in the midst of genuine laughter and storytelling.

And now, on to the art! These are only a small representation of the works currently on display at the IDEA Store gallery – my understanding is that they’ll be on display through at least June 3, 2016.

 

 

David Spears, “Conundrum”

I just thought this was a really interesting and clever way to use all the stray puzzle pieces that end up scattered about.

Christina Nordholm, “Dance Club”

Christina Nordholm, “Ready to Burn”

I particularly like the way she incorporates tree bark into these pieces. I really enjoy the texture. Of the two, I prefer “Ready to Burn” because I personally enjoy the energy coming from it. I’m not sure whether it’s more like looking into the heart of a bonfire or Hell itself. Either way, I like it.

Grace Savina, “Paintings Past”

I’m not quite sure what it is I’m looking at, but I kind of like that she managed to find a way to use old paint scraps. They almost look like little islands.

Grace Savina, “Dualities of Being”

Again, not sure what the artist intended for these to be, but, to me, they look like really colorful intestines. Like someone gutted a unicorn. Or it exploded and this was just a section of gut splatter. I kind of doubt this is what she was going for, but this is where my warped mind took it.

Barry Land, “Love is Dead”

I always get a kick of out this kind of artwork. I have absolutely NO skill for it myself, but scrap-metal sculptures always make me smile. This one also makes me sad, though.

Barry Land, “Untitled”

Perhaps “Ode to Johnny 5” would have been copyright infringement? And yeah, he also looks like Wall-E. But we all know Wall-E was just a rip off of Johnny 5. If you don’t know who Johnny 5 is, I feel sorry for you, bro.

Jason Rackow, “Untitled”

Jason Rackow, “Sentience”

This is one of those pieces I would totally hang in my apartment, provided I had the money and the space. I don’t really have anything profound to say here, this piece is just Cool. As. F**k. Look that the close-up shots of that texture. Who knew all those little bits and pieces scattered about the garage could look like this?

Cindy Sampson, “Landscape”

Cindy Sampson, “Lone Tree”

I wish I could have gotten a better shot of this one. This was actually my favorite piece of the show and I couldn’t even really capture why. Because I’m too short and it was hanging too high for me to get a head on shot. The glare from the lighting at this angle does this piece a serious injustice.  I’m sure you can make out the main tree of in the painting. It seems to stand amidst a field of ghost trees. What you cannot see well in this photo, is that the paperwork underneath has faded building plans printed on it. To me, it seems to say suggest that this tree lost all of it’s friends and family to ever increasing urban expansion.The fruit and rust stains have the look of blood to me. Yeah, my mind is dark. I am very drawn to artwork like this where I can find and this kind of haunting meaning in it. It’s the kind of art the speaks to me on some deeper level.

 

 

 

No More Excuses/ Garden of Doll Heads

I am not above using scare tactics to keep my dolls in line. “This is what happens when you use my fabric scissors to cut paper”

I feel like I should be writing something. I also feel like I should be getting around to actually making some videos. I’ve been saying for awhile (over a year, while not necessarily always in this blog) that I want to start making Youtube videos.
-I invested the time and the money into decorating the walls in my craft room because I felt like I couldn’t start doing it unless I had a good background.

$75+ and over a week invested in decorating these walls.

-Then I needed a camera, because I felt my point and shoot wasn’t good enough.
-Then I needed a tripod.
–Then I needed quality editing software.
-Then I needed a computer.

The new computer. I have yet to justify buying it.

-Lately I’ve been concerned because of an acne flare up and not wanting to be ugly on camera. (Seriously, how am I still getting acne in my 30s? This is not fair)

Enough excuses. I will be making a Youtube debut before the end of the day on Friday of next week (4/15/2016). Maybe it will be crappy. But I need to stop talking about it and just *do it already*.

I’m also fully aware that I really need to finish the next segment of The Mission as well. I’m going to make sure I get that done before April is over. No more excuses. The start of grad school is only 2 months away. I need to utilize this time while I still have it.

Earlier this weekend, I went out to ACME Elfworks – my friend Melissa Mitchell’s studio -for the Annual Boneyard Arts festival. She’s a super cool re-use artist that uses a lot of found objects in her artwork. Many of her pieces incorporate dolls or various doll body parts. Her artwork is often whimsical, but can also be kind of creepy – and I love that. I first met her whilst I was involved with the HATCH art show about 3 years ago. I just happened to have my camera with me and have decided to share some of these photos with you all.

❤ the cart full of rats

Reminds me of Sid’s creation from the original Toy Story movie.

In case you were curious what became of Charlie Horse. He couldn’t cope after Lamb Chop’s Play Along ended – his heart was broken after he caught Lamb in bed with Hush Puppy and turned to drugs and gambling. Sherry Lewis attempted an intervention once before her death, but Charlie refused rehab. Unable to pay his debts one night, he was taken into a back alley where he was beaten to death. His lifeless body was thrown into a dumpster. I believe this is where Melissa found his little pony corpse. Not entirely sure what she did with the rest of the body. It’s possible her cats ate it.

A lush garden of doll heads. Melissa hacks off their scalps and uses them as macabre planters. This is a thing I shall someday do when I have a garden of my own.

I love the way her lifeless eyes are glazed over. Even in death, Barbie continues to smile.

After The Man Who Fell to Earth

As promised in yesterday’s post, here are my initial impressions and thoughts now that I have seen this film … Part of me is inclined to announce spoiler warnings because it just seems like courtesy, but, given that the movie came out in 1976, it seems silly to do so. Though I am sure there a plenty of other out there who, like me, were born some years after and had not seen it. Anyhow, the following assumes you’ve seen the film and know what I’m talking about:

My very first reaction after the end of the movie, and what I literally asked my friend, was “what the fuck did I just watch?”. OK, I get it, it was the 70’s. I get the excuses for nudity and sex (and I thought today’s movies were bad – I actually got to see David Bowie’s junk) and I have no problem with that.

You enjoyed that, didn’t you?

But, was there a point to anything in that movie? I certainly have many more questions than answers–

• I understand that Mr. Newton (Bowie) is an alien from another planet who has come to earth because his own home world has become a desert and his family has no water (and it was never really clear if that family is still alive or if they’re dead by the end of the film – all of the images of his family seem to be flashbacks and imagined scenarios so I don’t know that the clip of his wife and children slumped over in the sand isn’t just his worried imagination). But he never actually makes it back to his homeworld. He goes through all this trouble to amass a fortune to fund a space program that he seems ready to pilot off with water to bring back when…
• Newton is kidnapped(?) and taken to this holding where there are all manner of tests and experiments performed on him (because he’s an alien, because somehow word got out) and I get that. I understand that. But, while I was initially led to believe he was there against his will -he calls out for help and tries to get out of the building at one point when Mary Lou comes to see him – he also seems rather calm about it all at moments (he’s certainly not being held in a concrete cell) and at one point tells Mary Lou that he can do anything and gets what he wants because he is rich. So, does this mean he wanted to be there? Were the experiments his idea to show the world? There was some brief discussion about this, but it wasn’t conclusive. But, if he wanted to be there, why call for help? Why not just walk out the front door? I’m mostly just confused on this point.
• Why did he never go back home? At the end of the film, Newton is sitting at an outdoor cafe, drinking some kind of alcohol, and talking with Dr. Bryce (Rip Torn). He drops the glass as a waiter is coming up and there are statements from both the waiter and Bryce, as well as an affirmation from Newton, that he’s had enough (to drink and/or of Earth?). Newton bows his head and credits roll. What, if anything, has been resolved by the end of this film? I realize that it’s entirely possible that the whole point was that nothing was resolved. One thing I DID notice…

• At the beginning of the film, all Newton wants to drink is water. He is almost obsessed with it (which is reasonable given the lack of water back home) and turns down any other drink but water. However, shortly after meeting Mary Lou, who is an obvious alcoholic, he begins to drink booze instead. In fact, after Newton begins to drink alcohol, we don’t see him drink water again. BUT, we do see numerous booze bottles around the home. This is also when the plot starts to lose focus. Is there a commentary in there on alcohol? Or is that just my being straight edge seeing that message?
• The way time flows in this film is hard to follow. It’s obvious that years progress – other characters around Newton age while he stays the same – but we’re never clued in to when time jumps forward or by how much (beyond the general notion that, oh Bryce has grey hair now and Mary Lou has put on a couple of pounds and has some sag).

Over all, I enjoyed the film and am glad I got to see it in the theater. I wonder how this film was received in the time in came out? What aspects of culture or life have I simply not noticed because I grew up in a different point in time? I find it rather interesting, living in the time that I do, to hear commentary from one character in the film about humankind only being able to process and accept so much new tech before they simply can’t take it. I’ve not yet read any other reviews or critiques or theories about it as I wanted to have just my own impressions initially. I think though, that now I’m going to look this up as I am really curious.

DON’T FORGET! This coming Saturday, 3pm CST, I’ll be on Google Hangouts for a live chat.

 

I Am Creating…. Something

Has it been forever again? I believe it has! When last we met, I was in the middle of packing. I have since moved, finished unpacking, and have started to settle into my new home. And hey, check it out, I have actual sewing/crafting space again!

I can make a giant mess in the throws of creativity and come back to it as it was and not have to spend an hour just trying to figure out what I was in the middle of doing! 😀 It’s wonderful!And check out the storage space!

And now that I am settled in, I am reminded that there is a Hatch 2015 deadline coming up.. soon. So, I am creating.. something. I don’t really know what yet. This is one art baby that I won’t know what it is destined to be until it decides to show me. So far, I’m working with last year’s wall-calendar, double-sided fusible web, and an old lace curtain I picked up a few years back.

Free to a Good Home!

So, I’m moving again in about a month. I’m steadily working on getting all of my stuff packed up. I’ve been sorting through all of my yarn, fabric, and general arty and crafty stuff. Some of it I am keeping, some of it I will be donating to local second hand stores, like The I.D.E.A. Store.

So, quick and dirty — How many of you remember The Rag Rug? I spent over a year on it, I blogged about it: Here, Here, and Here. I only managed to get several months of use out of it before I moved into this place (where I have no room for it) and, now, the apartment I am going to be moving into is carpeted and I won’t need it there. I spent a long time and a lot of effort on this rug and I don’t want to just get rid of it, BUT, I don’t really need it. And I’m a big enough pack rat as it is. Therefore, if there is anyone out there interested in having this rug, you’re welcome to it for whatever the cost is of getting it to you. If you’re local, it’s free. If you’re halfway around the world, it’s going to cost you some money as the rug is pretty hefty. It measures 3 feet x 7 feet 3 inches.

If you’re interested, email me at foxchic85@yahoo.com with “Rug” as a header. First come, first serve.

—————– UPDATE——————

The rug has found itself a new home. Thank you to everyone that expressed interest.

 

Awake Late at Night

This is going to be one of those streams of consciousness styled posts I occasionally like to write. I took a nap earlier this afternoon, do not have to go in to work until the middle of tomorrow afternoon, and so, I am wide awake and my mind is bouncing around. Honestly, you’ll likely not be reading this until sometime after I’ve left for work tomorrow, but, just for fun and pointing out real-time, it is now 11:33pm CST on a Sunday evening as I begin to write this. (in the same vein, real-time distractions will be inserted, italicized, in parentheses)

Tonight, I just realized, was the premiere of the new Cosmos with Neil DeGrasse Tyson. I’ve not watched it yet. But, I’m actually running a Symphony of Science playlist on Youtube as I write this. (jump to facebook, to get into a discussion with a friend about Carl Sagan) I’ll have to watch that tomorrow. Perhaps I can introduce the kids that I work with to the awesomeness that is the universe and curiosity and the badass-ness of DeGrasse Tyson. Or they may just think it’s lame. Which is *usually* what I am met with – a general disinterest for pondering the bigger picture or the vastness of the universe or the meaning of life. Once in awhile though, I am pleasantly surprised.  This reminds me… some time back I came across this quilt that a woman had created to teach kids about the solar system. (another facebook break)

Speaking of work, I brought in my sewing machine this morning. One of the teens staying in the shelter wanted to learn different ways to refashion some of her jeans into shorts. We worked together to make 2 pair of shorts, a pair of cut-offs and a hemmed pair, and I had her get familiar with the machine with some scrap denim. I pointed out the importance of a stay stitch with cut-offs and how to get the denim to fray quicker. I’d like to work more with these kids on some of the basics of sewing, even just basic repair work. And I wonder if it would be worthwhile to try to set up some kind of community sewing studio.. because not everyone has the funds or space for a machine… and perhaps free classes on how to sew, repair, and design your own clothes. I would like to see sewing become something of a norm again – it would help to combat throw-away fashions if people could simply repair/ refashion their clothes. Perhaps, with an emphasis on re-used fabric, it might combat the sheer tons of textile waste we create Every. Single. Day.  Also, I love outlets to build community and be creative. Of course, maybe I’m a bit daydreamy to think that kids and teens would be interested in such a thing. How do we make sewing “cool”?  If you have never commented on these blogs before, I encourage you to comment on this topic… thoughts, ideas, anecdotes, discussions…

(break to take a shower and put on jammies. 2 thoughts whilst I was in the shower: 1) I want to do up a cosmos themed dress.. embroider the universe, a la Ms. Frizzle 2) I’m totally dressing in Sagan-style next Carl Sagan Day – Nov. 9th) … screw it, I kind of want to do that this week. Flashback to Emulation. It’s also just occurred to me that I never expanded into all the realms of emulation that I wanted to do – Halloween, LARPing, CosPlay, etc. I need to revisit this.

I mean to mention a couple of other things that are important. 1) Hatch. I did it last year (see here), I’m actually in it again this year. I’m horrible at self-promotion. I should have been talking about this weeks ago. The opening reception, the trashion show (yes they had a trashion show this year), and the gallery talk have already come and gone. My lack of posting about it is probably due to a combination of 1) being too lazy to buy new batteries for my camera 2) the artwork I had accepted for the exhibit is a piece I’ve already written about in length here and 3) I’m just lazy in general. HOWEVER, this coming Saturday, March 15th, 2014, is the Art Fair for Hatch. I originally intended to go to this. However, The Culture Monk is going to be in Chicago that morning in his series of coffee houses. I’d really rather go to that. Because I’d kind of like to meet this guy in person, link a face and a voice and an experience to the blocks of text I read regularly. Sadly I cannot be in 2 places at once. But I promise to be in at least one of those places Saturday. (youtube and facebook distraction) (time check – 12:54am. Going back into text to insert links) (links inserted, tags entered, end time 1:28am)

Update, 11:11 am: Just finished watching the new Cosmos on Hulu. I teared up. I literally teared up. DeGrasse Tyson’s remembrance of Sagan at the end touched me.

Off the Beaten Path

I wrote the following on January 12th. That was almost a month ago. Any guesses as to why I never bothered to publish it? I was on a guest computer and was unable to find a good pic to throw up in the heading. Yeah, that’s it. And now, I’m sitting here debating with myself whether I want to delete it, or try to edit it because it’s a month old and no entirely up to date. I’m not going to do that. I do that too frequently as it is. My dashboard has a cache of half-worked blogs that I never finished and now feel too lost in time to bother completing. That ends. So, here is what I intended to publish almost a month ago, still lacking a photo:

Today, I was going through my reader, reading some of the newer entries of other blogs that I love but don’t always have the time to dedicate to reading – because I am working, or spending time with friends and family, or creating things, or watching Hindi films (which is usually a 3 hour commitment where I actually have to pay attention to the screen so I don’t miss subtitles and get lost. No knitting or embroidering during a Hindi film. All the more reason I should probably buckle down a really learn the language beyond the handful of words and phrases I know.).

One of the posts I was reading was this post from my internet acquaintance, Arlee. If you’re a artsy person, or if you’ve been around an artsy person, or have noticed the chaos in some of the photos in my own posts, you know that clutter tends to be an inherent, and arguably essential, part of the process. Since I left my one bedroom apartment and moved into a house with 2 roommates, I haven’t had the kind of carte blanche to just wreak havoc in my endeavors (which my be part of why there seem to be fewer such endeavors, or at least not so many hardcore artistic adventures), because I need to be respectful of shared spaces. I’m also too broke to afford awesome studio space anywhere. Fortunately, my roommates are pretty laid back and awesome nerdy types that spend most of their free waking hours holed up in their bedrooms on their laptops (Nerdy types are just, in general, awesome people. Of course, I’m rather biased.), so I am usually able to get away with dominating the big table for 2-3 days before I actually need to clear it off (to make room for gaming).

Another bit of excitement I have is learning that The Culture Monk is going on an epic Drinking in the Culture Tour (he’s referring to copious amounts of coffee, not booze – why is it that “drinking”, unless you specify a beverage, always seems to refer to alcohol?).

And then lots and lots of random travel blogs from people that have either more determination or less emotional ties to family than I do. (Wander Onwards and Halph– which is done by my friend, Jesse – are a couple of these) I would love to be able to travel the world, to live abroad for awhile. But there are so many things I would miss out on if I left.. I am sure that somewhere there is a universe in which I am living in India or wandering aimlessly around the world.

But, for now, I think I am going to find some manner of crochet pattern on Ravelry for a lemur or meercat or something to make for this new baby in my family that was just born yesterday.

My Fangirl Crush on Hank Green and a New Tshirt!

The last time I posted, I was making pants. Those pants are not done. I got frustrated with the stupid zipper and banished them to the finish-some-random-months-later-because-you-angered-me pile. I keep that pile in the corner next to the couch. That will give that zipper time to think about what it’s done.

In other news, I discovered Hank and John Green. I know, I know.. oh so many people out there that were years ahead of me on this, but I’m apparently the first one in my circle of friends and family to have come upon them on the internets… and I’ve developed a huge fangirl crush on Hank. Yes. Hank Green is now officially in my guilt-free three (which goes 1. CM Punk 2. David Tennant 3. Hank Green if anyone is curious). I’m subscribed to Sci Show and Crash Course and am going through and watching every Vlogbrothers video in chronological order. Because when I get interested in something, I dive all the way in and no one recognizes me for several weeks until it’s leveled out. And now I have to share that wonder of discovery. So, here is a song that Hank sings about tshirts and jeans (Hey, look at that, I just made a random new obsession relate-able to the topic of this blog. I should get bonus points for that.)
However, as awesome as this song is and as awesome as Hank is, we here at A’Cloth the World know that even a tshirt and jeans carry meaning.

I kind of what this Nerdfighteria shirt. Because I want to communicate my nerdfighter status and my love of the entire concept when people stare at my boobs.

Don’t we? Yes we do. I like to wear my personality on my clothes. A lot of us do. I always see all these tshirts that I want but I never buy. I look at shirt woot and tshirt hell and ban tshirts regularly, and I see all these designs that I like and all these shirts that I’d like to have, but I seldom buy anything. Because I’m frugal and it’s hard to justify new clothes to me. My boyfriend has gazillions of tshirts and no qualms about spending money to buy more tshirts. Thankfully, he has good taste and we wear the same size. So, I raid his tshirts when I want to change up what I’m wearing.

Some months back, I purchased some Crayola fabric crayons, because I thought it would be fun and easy to decorate clothes that way. I mean, I love the look of embroidery, but, sometimes I want a faster turnaround, ya know? So, like a lot of my ideas for projects, the crayons sat in the bottom of a box of stuff for months before I reminded myself that I had them in the first place. I decided to try them out tonight. I saw a couple of disappointing reviews (here and here), but I wanted to try this out for myself.

I started with a plain tshirt and decided to draw and color directly on the shirt itself with the crayons. The instructions say to draw on paper and then transfer, but, that didn’t bode well for others, so, I just drew directly on the shirt.

And then I used an iron to heat set the designs. You can actually see a difference.

Here I am rocking my new shirt!

Yeah, I’m now a nerdfighter.

 

 

The End of a Journey; Post Art Show Reflection

As quickly as the Boneyard Arts Festival came upon me, and I rushed to complete my artworks, it flew by even quicker. After a month of hard work and pushing myself, it is both soothing and weird to be able to just lay back and relax. My brain is still scouring for the next urgent “to-do” and it feels lost and somewhat panicky, as though I’ve forgotten something. This past week has been especially stressful, as I had to pull all-nighters to finish my work on time alongside dealing with some pressure from my day job. I actually went to work Wednesday on not more than 90 minutes of sleep. I did it, though. I pulled through and each piece was a success, as was my live demo. If you’d like to follow this particular journey from the beginning, see my earlier posts 1, 2, 3, 4, 5 and 6.

Community Center for the Arts (C4A):

C4A is largely a space for music, but they are starting to become a space for visual art as well. They provide various music lessons for a variety of instruments and ages and many of their members are talented musicians on their own. I had 3 pieces on display here, and they will be on display through the rest of the week.

Acid Tears

I originally created this piece for the Hatch show I participated in the early part of March, however it didn’t muster jury approval. Perhaps proof that the opinions of a jury aren’t the most important and that having a piece rejected isn’t the final word, this piece actually sold before it was hung for Boneyard, based on a photo that circulated. Even if it hadn’t, I would have still been very proud of it. I put many hours of blood, sweat, and tears into it. It is this piece in particular that deeply reflects my own struggles and how the echos of the past can color the present.

Silent Screams

This was the piece I started with and it was the piece I finished with. This is the piece that I am perhaps most critical of, because I know that it does not match what I had in my mind. Despite all of the flaws that *I* see, the feedback I have had from others who have viewed my piece has been positive. We are always our own worst critics. We have to realize that what we give birth to as artists will not always mirror the image in our minds, and it may grow into it’s own. There is also no law that says any artwork cannot be improved upon just because it’s been shown.

The Cycle

Perhaps the most powerful of these three works, at least for me, this one captured my attentions and my focus from the minute I began to work on it. As I mentioned to a friend on Facebook, this is my art-incarnate fetal self. It is my mother, my grandmother, it is the any-woman. A spiral that carries with it all the hopes and fears through time and generations, asking the ages old questions about fate and free will.

Of course, I was not the only artist to display here. These are my 2 favorite pieces.

From Carmen A. Egolf:

From Sarah Keenan-Jones:

Habitat for Humanity of Champaign:

This was especially fun for me. I was asked to do a live demo for 4 hours and, at first, I wasn’t sure what to expect. With limitless possibilities of activities to choose from, it was hard for me to narrow it down. Since I still had several balls of tshirt yarn left over from when I did that knitting workshop about a year and a half ago, I decided to do something with tshirt yarn. Wanting to be able to teach something new to passersby, I anticipated questions and brought enough supplies for others to join in if they wanted. For 4 hours I sat at the little table that the ReStore staff graciously let me pick out, with crochet hook in hand, and proceeded to craft a beautiful little flower as store patrons looked on and asked questions. Aside from my friend and fellow textile artist, Rachel Suntop, no one took up hook or needle alongside me, but I had a number of interested onlookers, including a little boy of perhaps 7 that exclaimed, “I want to learn how to do that when I grow up!”. You have no idea how much that really made my day. I hope I sparked an interest that sticks. It would be so nice if that little boy eventually grew into a man that could work wonders with hook and yarn!  I will likely never know, but it’s a happy daydream all the same.

Some photos of me working the demo, thanks to The News-Gazette and photographer, Heather Coit.

Photo by Heather Coit from The News-Gazette

Photo by Heather Coit from The News-Gazette