Show people some of my pieces (the Perils of Piracy shirt, for example), and at least a few of them will call me crazy. Tell them that it’s “art” and I’m an “artist”: they still think I’m crazy but it’s a sanctioned sort of crazy. In January, this sanctioned craziness will be validated by the Alt Fiber show taking place at the Assemble Gallery in Cleveland, OH, curated by Shannon Okey, author of the Knitgrrl books. Address: 1300 West 78th, Cleveland OH, 44102, Opening Reception: Friday, January 13, 2006 from 7PM-10PM, Exhibition Dates: Friday, January 13, 2006 through Saturday, February 04, 2006. "Nationally-known women artists make their Cleveland debut in a group show at Assemble Gallery devoted to walking the fine line between art and craft while exploring a woman’s place in the world. Weaving, perhaps the only textile taken seriously as art, is not represented: instead, the walls will be filled with Whitney Lee’s "soft porn" latchhook rugs, embroidery by Jenny Hart, Julie Jackson and Andrea Dezso, an intersection of film and knitting by NYC-based artist / publisher of knitting art magazine Sabrina Gschwandtner, a miniaturized version of Larissa Brown’s "Meatheads" knitting installation, knitted wombs by MK Carroll and crewel work by Cleveland native Katherine Shaughnessy, author of The New Crewel. The Assemble Store will also feature books and kits by several of the artists during this exhibition." I wish I could go – I so am blown away by the other artists who will be exhibiting and am thrilled to be included! Julie Eisenhardt, the organizer of Wombs on Washington, has sent the Wombs she collected, and they will be joined by the original Womb as well as the prototype for a Womb Purse. The gift shop will be selling Womb knit/crochet kits, which contain enough yarn (already wound into a pull-skein) and polyfill for at least one Womb, a hand-beaded stitch marker, coated wire, and the URLs for the free knit pattern (Knitty.com) and the free crochet pattern. Getting the kits together happened very quickly, and I was fortunate enough to get hand-dyed/handspun yarn from indie female crafters.
Midnight Sky Fibers
midnightskyfibers.com
midnightskyfibers.etsy.com
"Midnightsky is a student and a fiber artist from the Pacific Northwest where she works hard to produce high quality handspun yarns, fibers, knit, and knit other handmade goods that are as unique and funky as every individual. I handspin and paint all my yarns unless otherwise noted. I use vegetarian and envorinmentally friendly dyes and mordants (we only get a chance to live on this earth the right way once!) "
White Multi: a blend of wool, angora, silk, soysilk, and angelina, worsted weight, two 50 yd skeins. Soft and a bit curly, shades of cream with pink sparkle. I almost kept these for myself.
$35 at Anezka Handmade
Pink Multi: hand-dyed wool and vegetable dyes. Bulky thick/thin, 150 yds.
$35 at Anezka Handmade
Jenny Neutron Star
jennyneutronstar.com
Jenny Neutron Star, Intergalactic Fiber Slave!
Jenny spun these skeins to order. I asked for 10 wpi*, relatively smooth (minimal slubbing and coiling), incorporating shades of pink. Jenny checked out the Womb pattern and my blog, then spun up all this gorgeousness! It’s all amazingly soft, too.
Peaches & Creamy: Merino, tencel, nylon, sparkle thread. Bulky thick/thin, 96 yds.
$35 at Anezka Handmade
Sweet Flesh: Merino, tencel, sparkle thread. Bulky thick/thin, 70 yds.
$35 at Anezka Handmade
Candy: Merino with random pieces of cotton, alpaca, silk, tencel, and sparkle thread. Bulky thick/thin, 80 yds.
$35 at Anezka Handmade
Phoenix Fiberworks
phoenixfiberworks.etsy.com
She will custom-dye to order (check out her Etsy shop for more info).
Cinnabar
Bulky hand-dyed 80% wool, 20% alpaca blend (commercially spun). 110 yds.
$35 at Anezka Handmade
Knittydirtygirl
knittydirtygirl.com
knittydirtygirl.etsy.com
Rachel Marie, Lancaster PA.
Hand-beaded stitch markers made with memory wire (if you click on the photos of the kits, you’ll get a larger view and can see the stitch markers a little better). The markers are a hoop shape with overlapping ends, so these can be slipped from one needle to another or slipped onto the work and then slipped off of the work. My photos of the stitch markers didn’t come out clearly – check out her Etsy shop for examples. Every marker is different, using an assortment of colors and various bead sizes for a fantastically eclectic effect that looks great with the handspuns.
Kits are available for purchase at Anezka Handmade. At $35 each, they are a bargain just for the yarn!
Some people claim to work better under a deadline. I am not one of those people. Getting extra stuff done, like prepping a pattern for publication and knitting samples, falls into what I call the 2 a.m. category. I took those photos at 1:15 a.m. and hoped for the best, as I had to pack everything up and get it sent off. This leads to things like mediocre photos (when I remember to take them), and lacking photos (when I forget, as I did with the prototype for the Womb Purse). My hopeful goal has been to start selling patterns and make enough profit doing that so I can quit one of my part-time jobs and focus more on design work, thereby eliminating the 2 a.m. category [Of course, sweetie. Right after you have tea with the Tooth Fairy and the Dead Goldfish Fairy**. -Viv]
The purse is really just a larger version with a zipper in the top. Needs some tweaking – have to determine the best way to support the handles, and the sides need stiffening, either through fulling or by switching to crochet instead.
* wpi = wraps per inch, a more reliable way to determine yarn thickness, generally used by the spinning community. You can find wpi measuring tools for sale, or make your own by marking off inches on a dowel rod and wrapping the yarn around it.
** The Dead Goldfish Fairy scoops up all of the Late, Former, Ceased-To-Be, Joined the Choir Invisible ex-goldfish and takes them to a lovely park Somewhere Else before the children find them floating belly-up in the bowl. The park has wonderful ponds and water features and adorable, well-behaved children who know how to hold still and keep their hands to themselves when told to feed the fish crumbs and bits of delightful things, and the goldfish are very very happy. They are. They were happy here with you as well, but it’s like the elves sailing into the West, things change and they must move on to other things and I’m sure they miss you too.
