September 29, 2004
Learning how to use this stuff
Just like I thought, the way I managed to upload my image yesterday was not the easiest way; I figured out the easiest way today. Who knew that there were instructions right there.
Here's what I'm working on today:
I'm cutting out this linoleum block. Everything inside the black will be cut out, and not print; everything else, the black lines and the background, will be black. When printed, they will look like these.
This is part of an ongoing body of work that I will talk a lot about later. Today I don't have the time; I'm going to have this block ready to print by Friday morning.
Just to show that I have this images thing licked, here's another:
When I was first learning to knit fourteen years ago, the first thing I was taught how to knit was socks (by my art history teacher Marg Blackie—thanks Marg!). I made a lot of socks back then, but due to my slowness to figure out that you shouldn't put a dpn join right on the bottom of the foot, none of them have survived except for these ones. I hardly ever wear them, partly because they are made from sport weight cotton, not sock yarn, and thus have no stretch and have to be forced onto my feet, and partly because the colours are just so nasty. But today this colour combination thrills me for some reason, so I'm wearing them; the fact that I'm not planning to leave the house helps.
I stopped making socks when my Second Sock Syndrome became chronic. I figure no matter how many unfinished garments are lying around making me feel guilty or quietly taunting me from wherever it is they've been stuffed, it's more bearable than having one perfectly good, wearable sock sitting there and not being able to bring myself to knit a second.
See that African Violet in the background? This is the first time it has flowered since we moved to Windsor, 3 years ago. I had long ago forgotten what colour it was.
Posted by jodi at 12:35 PM | Comments (1) | categories: art stuff : projects
September 28, 2004
Hey! You found me. . .Welcome.
So, Movable Type is finally installed (thanks, Pete) and I'm finally ready to write my first blog post. Why do I want to blog? Two reasons:
1. There are things that I do that I'm passionate about and love to talk about, and the people who love me, well, they're not all that interested (although most of them make a valiant effort to appear otherwise). Thus I've become addicted to reading other people's knitting blogs, and want to join that little community and have a place to blather on about my own geeky pursuits, and get feedback that's not distracted and monosyllabic.
2. I am a creative and scatterbrained person; I need a place where I can write things down, things I want to remember or refer to later (or just solicit someone else's opinion on). Trying to find a slip of paper with something important written or sketched on it in my house is like any number of cliches about searching for stuff that you might care to insert here. I figure blog posts won't be able to get buried under the archaeological dig that is my dining room table.
I've been reading a lot of blogs, and I have a good idea of what I want mine to be like. So I'm going to lay down some rules; I'm not making promises that I can be called out later for breaking, but I want to establish some guidelines.
These are things that I will talk about here, a lot:
1. Printmaking, because it's the most important thing in my life. And because I am in the last semester of my BFA degree, and have a little over two months left to finish all of my studio work in preparation for my graduation exhibition, my grad school applications, and the rest of my life.
2. My grad school applications. Because other than the year's worth of studio work I intend to complete in the next two months, and my self imposed knitting deadlines, this will occupy all of my spare time and thought until Christmas.
3. Knitting. Because that's what got me interested in the blog world to begin with, and because there are people out there who understand what's so exciting about knitting, and why it's necessary sometimes to jump up and down or dance because of a perfect seam or just a really glorious yarn, and my friends and family are not really those people.
These are the things I will not talk about here:
1. My private life and personal relationships. Because this is a creative journal, not a diary. I won't talk about my sex life, either (Krista's saying ohdeargodthankyou at that one, I'm sure).
2. My cats. Although all knitting bloggers seem to have cats, they make for boring reading. So even though the incredible stupidity and remarkable obesity of my cats makes them easy targets for mockery, I will refrain from talking about them here unless they do something truly amazing and blogworthy.
And just to prove that I can figure out this Movable Type thing on my own, here's a picture:
Whee! I did it, although I'm pretty sure there's an easier way than what I had to do. What's in the picture, you ask? Well, it's a secret. It's something I've been working on since August, and I hope to submit the pattern for publication. Soon. It's more than halfway finished, and although I should be cutting wood blocks right now, all I want to do is work on this sweater, now that it's in the home stretch. By the way, this piece looks a lot better in real life; the yarn is supersoft, and a lovely deep black. Not gray and shiny like it looks in the photo.
So, there you have it. Thanks for checking me out, and I promise that as soon as we figure out the style sheets thing, this page won't look so boring. I'm still trying to come up with a clever name for my weblog too, something knitty and rock'n'roll. Inspiration will hit, I'm sure.
Posted by jodi at 11:22 AM | Comments (5) | categories: projects