Liking Isn't Loving

I am so stinkin' torn right now about this project. The problem is that I just don't love it, but I really like it. The "liking" part is making it hard for me to want to scrap the project all-together. It has merit, but it just doesn't create that "I'm so obsessed with this!" feeling like most of my other knit pieces illicit. So do I frog the project or do I invest the time in finishing it?

I just don't think the background colors are successful. My attempt to deepen the gradient helped but it's still too rigid, and then the separation between the 2 yellows disappeared so I'm left with the uneven distribution of colors. It feels weighted in the wrong ways.

Now here is a successful color gradient! I knit Hammered//Enamored by hand so, moving slower, I was able to assess the color-change much more closely. Also, only being able to view the backside of the knitting while using the machine, limits my visibility of what I am doing. 

I don't know what I'm going to do. I HATE feeling like I wasted my time or, even worse, that my art progress is moving at the pace of a fist fight underwater. I want so hard to be prolific and react quickly on my ideas but with all life puts on each of us, it can be tricky. And I'm just not a person that can forego all other life-fulfilling activities for the sake of my art career. Sometimes I wish I was.

Have you ever been stuck about making decisions like these? How do you work through them?

Sprang Update

New shipment of yarn arrives = I've got some big plans in the works! I'm starting to buy multiple balls in my fave colors in anticipation of larger projects.

Until then, why don't I share what I've been up to these past couplea months! I haven't been getting as much done as I would like due to now working a part-time job but it's just a matter of time before I rebalance.

I'm starting to explore the differences between hand and machine knitting. These 2 guys are the same toothbrush design, same yarn, same number of rows cast-on, but the left is done on the machine and the right is done by hand. It makes me realize what a loose hand-knitter I am! Doing intarsia color-work on the machine, you can't help but have a tight tension and I'm really enjoying it because it adds a sharpness to the design. Not to mention it now means I can pack in more detail into a smaller space. 

My tiny houses have gone super tiny now with the tight gauge. This guy measures 1.5" x 2.25". Can't wait to start designing these house more intricately, especially since this house is too tiny for any of my tiny frames, hehe.

These toothbrushes tho, I think I might prefer the look of the hand-knit here. See how varied the 2 brushes are from each other? The machine would add a uniformity that I believe would take away from the character of the design. This piece recently sold to a buddy of mine who reached out via Instagram, I appreciate his support! Eventually I would like to put a series of pieces up for sale online, until then, it's been individuals who reach out to me that I'm selling to for now. Still figuring out outlets for my work. 

If you are EVER interested in purchasing something you see here or on any of my web platforms (website, Instagram, Facebook) PLEASE CONTACT ME! If you love it, I want to get it to you!!

I'm now an official member of the Triangle Machine Knitters Guild based out of Raleigh :) they hosted a 5-day spring Knit-In at a local nature preserve that was a great opportunity for me to be in a room-full of experienced machine-knitters. That taught me some many little things about my machine -- like how do I adjust the volume? Is my frame set up right? It was great. Not only are they talented but fun company as well.

Got some knit inspiration off the TV the other day -- I couldn't figure out how they were knitting and purling with the same yarn but getting 2 different colors. When I brought my sketchbook in to the Knit-In, I was instantly taught about plating. Plating is where you carry 2 yarns as you knit, where one color is carried in front and the other in the back. This way the purl side will be a different color than the knit side.

Not only did I learn what plating was, but I learned I could do it on my machine! Mine came with a plating yarn feeder that can hold the yarns front and back.

Here is my first sample with the plating yarn feeder. I love the way that the contrasting yarns create a flecked sort of look. This swatch is way too stiff because I used 2 fingering weight yarns. To create a really nice fabric, I need 2 yarns that when combined, make a standard fingering weight.

Here is a piece I got done during the Knit-In. Can you tell what it says? I'll give you a hint: the dark lines are the shadows of the letters. I originally knit this design at home, and had my fair share of trials-and-errors...

...the biggest lesson being 1) I can't watch TV and machine-knit like the way I can by hand, and 2) understanding how to correctly flip my design so that it comes out the right way. See, when you knit by machine, you face the purl-side of the fabric (aka, the back-side) so you can't really see the finished side until you cast-off and remove it from the machine. After knitting my writing backwards not once, not twice but 

3 times (that's where the not-watching-TV lesson was learned), 

I finally realized what I was doing wrong. I would flip my pattern in the computer and then read the chart top-down, which would flip the pattern again. Flipping twice means backwards letters for me.

After maintaining my zen and dutifully ripping back, I finally got it right. Alas, even then I came to the decision that this bit of cryptic text might be too cryptic. So I decided to knit it one more time (the green one above) and loosen the tension (allowing more space between the letters) and shortening the letters overall. It's still tricky to read but no one said understanding art was easy!! Also framing it properly and being able to stand back from it helps :)

Did you guess what it says yet? TURD ON A LOG, duhhhh!!!! It's a phrase I use often when I feel like I'm not getting anything done, or I've watched too much TV and not done the laundry. I have no idea where it came from but it has become a part of my regular, nonsense lingo.

Ok, so maybe understanding art can be easy too.

This is another quick study I did at the Knit-In. Here I was inputing single motifs (one bird or one flower) and then using the machine's computing abilities to repeat and flip them as I desired. For me, this is where this software makes sense. I wouldn't want to input a large design like "Turn On A Log", especially if I know I only want to knit it once. I would rather input small motifs and have fun repeating them in various ways.

I've got some big plans for the next few months, focusing on my goal of scaling up. Now if all these friends of mine would quit being so happy and getting married then I would have more time to knit!!

Stay tuned...

Super Speed

Finished up a commissioned watercolor painting while being responsible and watching Obama's address.

This year has started off behind the wheel of a Maserati pummeling down the road of expanding opportunities and diminishing down-time. My 2014 year-in-reflection blog post has been frugally attempted in between mouth-fulls of oatmeal while shoving extra pairs of socks on my feet on my way out the door.

The MOST EXCITING DECISION I've made for myself and my art career this year is to virtually remove work-for-hire from my plate. With the addition of an ideal part-time job, I've got enough supplemental income (for now) to turn down the projects I don't really want to do. Thus, creating even more space for me to make the things my creativity leads me to. Ironically, it can be hard for me to say "no" to people when they come to me for help. I want to help and share the skills I have but I need to devote more time to my own ideas. They deserve a whole-hearted try. And so I'm learning how to say "no"!

Having THAT said, there are clients and projects I have already committed to, coming into this year, that I can't bail on. Can you guess my strategy for January? Get all of the projects done as soon as possible! THEN I can go back to my own rainbows. So that's what I've been up to.

Here's where I ended 2014: Melina Coogan, a most distinguished blogger and fiancé to one of my BFFs, approached me for my very first knitted art commission (these are the commissions I wanna take!) to be a most-excellent Christmas gift for aforementioned BFF. I was THRILLED. She gave me full artistic license and I hope I didn't disappoint. This phrase has been rattling through my head for years after seeing it on a shirt from one of my quilt commissions baaack in the day. I just thought it was so eloquent and meaningful on multiple levels. When I was brainstorming ideas for this project, I started reading through Melina's blog and I knew this mantra would be great for her and David to reflect on each day. Maybe just the boost they needs that can help up hold their heads up a little higher for the day ahead. 

 David has always championed my artistic endeavors and for years has hoped to own one of my pieces. I don't think Melina knew that! It became a gift from both of us to brighten up his new home.

~

 Attempted our first juice cleanse at the start of the year. It was excellent excepting the cost of produce mid-Winter and the sheer frigidness of only drinking cold liquids. We'd like our second-go at it when the weather warms up. On a positive note, I now drink coffee black (no more cream and sugar) and I don't get migraine-ish headaches when I go longer than 3 hours without eating!

Last pair of commissioned jeans. I don't want to stop making jeans but might be more selective about who I make them for. Gravy being unhelpful, per usual.

 Super super exciting project in the works involving some old beading projects and a stellar art gallery!! Can't wait to share sooooon!

So maybe Adam and I just aren't in the right place to get a dog of our own. Whether that means blaming our lack of a fence or just our lack of desire for more responsibility, we can't say. But we sure do love playing with our friends' dogs!! Like we get way too excited about it. Maybe we're just meant to be a stellar Aunt and Uncle. Please come visit us out here in the beautiful, piedmont countryside and always bring your dog!

"BORED" and Alone

Got some new knittings to share this week. 

Find them painfully befitting since I've been holed up in my house, desperate for conversation, a little variety, or at least somewhere or someway to be active. As much as I love knitting, when you find yourself on the couch with the needles for hours at a time everyday, your body starts telling you that you're not meant to sit on your legs for this long.

Went to a great exhibit at the Greenhill Center in Greensboro and was blown away by Noé Katz, particularly his sculptures.

I thought this one was especially fitting of the state-of-mind I've been in lately.

Found the back of this piece inspiring, with the way that the lines sorta echo themselves. So of course I had to explore this idea more...

Flipped the design and knitted it all over again. But this time pulled the tails of my yarn to the front instead of the back. Was unsure if this was going to look good but convinced myself to keep going and just at least see how it would turn out. If it was bad, I at least experimented and it would go into the basket of reject ideas. (It's true, I have experimented so much with color knitting that I have a basketful of failed projects. Hey, maybe one day they will find a new purpose.)

ALSO

...found some more images from the PA show. Realized they're some pieces that have not found their way on this blog yet.

Tastee food spread from zee party! Doesn't little toothbrushes there look great on a stand?? I'm calling that one "Real Intimacy" (8" x 6 ¾") Also you can see the postcards I had printed up with my contact info on the back. No surprise, that at a dollar a pop, they're my bestsellers!

"Real Intimacy #2"

9 ⅜ in x 7 ⅛ in

Love this little guy. The cherry wood frames it beautifully.

"Eons"

16 ⅜ in x 7 in

This was inspired by a letterpress print Megan made with the word "Eons". Since we are showing together in June, we having been finding ways to respond to each other's work, consciously and unconsciously.

NEW ART SHOW + Color Conclusions

HAND IN HAND

...an art show by Ann Tilley, is a multi-colored explosion of knitted and crocheted art pieces telling the small stories of relationships in the home. A symbology of everyday objects expresses the intimacy of shared spaces. Painfully familiar one-liners pulled from the world’s journal wrapped in the cuddly kitsch of textiles. A personal inner voice experiencing love through fragmented text and the ordinary. 

What does your toothbrush say about you?

That's the write-up for a new solo show of my work going up in Harrisburg, PA next month! My bestie from SCAD days owns a store up there, STASH, that functions as a treasure trove for vintage clothing, a resource for the local and handmade, an art gallery, and an anchor for the young community that's slowly revitalizing this historical downtown. The show will feature more of my object work rather than my text work; all those toothbrushes and houses that have spawned out of the original LOVE SIGNS show I put on last year. This is a great opportunity for me to get my most recent knittings framed and get a chance to visit a dear friend. It will also be the first time I've shown my work out of state. Does this mean I can call myself a national artist?? Yes? Okay, I'll go ahead and add that to the other inflated text in my resumé :)

------------------------------SIDE NOTE----------------------------

I remember when having a resumé was SUCH a big deal. I used to stressss over getting on the computer and trying to design that wow write-up that was going to get me my dream job, whatever that was. I eventually hand-wrote the entire thing because I couldn't find a font that made me happy. Did you ever find it important to actually have a resumé? Or was that just another thing you did at the end of school because everyone told you to do it?

----------------------------END SIDE NOTE------------------------

~

On to COLOR CONCLUSIONS...

As a follow-up to my last post on color...I figured out what was bothering me with that knitting I was struggling with and how to fix it. In fact, the resulting work is the center image in the poster above. And wouldn't you know, the answer came from my own damn advice. I guess I finally started listening. 

Here's the backstory and ultimate conclusion I came to: 

I have an idea in the works for an outside installation, and I needed bulky yarn. So I went to Knit Picks and ordered nearly every color they have of their Brava bulky. While it was en route, I thought I could further utilize this new yarn in another toothbrush piece. So when it came in, I picked colors from my options and failed to make something that made me happy. Why? The first conclusion I came to was when I traded the olive green for a bright chartreuse green. I realized that olive green is not one of my colors. Chartreuse green is. What had led to my failure was that I ordered every color they had because I wanted options, not because each of those colors spoke to me. The way that I build the color stash I work with is to buy the colors I need for a project, when I need something specific, or buy the colors that stand out to me. And I don't just buy from one place. I do this in every yarn store in my area, as well as online. This means that when I approach my yarns to design a new knitting, I'm working from my color wheel. This gives me the greatest chance for success because I've already said 'yes' to each of those colors. I see now the mistake in buying every color from one vendor. There are probably yarns in there I will never use. But, on the bright side, I now understand a part of my process and the importance of allowing myself to buy yarn organically as I see something that compels me. 

It's just like being in a relationship. The more you understand they way your partner ticks, the way you react to situations, what does and doesn't work; you get better at being together. 

The better you start to understand your own artistic processes, the better you can be at your work. And we can all stop making things we don't like!

Wanted to share this recently completed filet crochet piece, "Tig Ol' Bitties"! After I finished "Ain't That Some Shit!", I declared that I would never crochet lace again... yeah, that didn't last very long. Adam encouraged me to make this piece as a complement and follow-up to the last one, and he sold me on this idea when he also came up with the phrase, HA! I loved it though. I physically developed very early on and was surrounded by many ittie-bittie friends, it wasn't till college that I made a friend with larger bitties than me. I specifically remember a high school party where I was given a name tag with this phrase on it by Chris Martz, and the nostalgia of that memory was enough to make me want to crochet this. Also, what's more feminine and beautiful than a great rack?? Everybody likes tig ol'bitties!

Behind the scenes of my photo shoot. Cats, they just GOT to sit on everything! And I just realized now that Adam is using my giant handshake as a blanket, ha! 

I realize that I haven't posted pictures of this piece... I had intentions of working into it more and I'm still a little fuddled on how to take a good picture of it. I was calling it Handshake Rug because my original idea was to felt it and use it as a rug. but all the natural dying I did with the yarn (all the yarn, excepting the black, is hand-dyed) might potentially disappear if I douse this with hot water over and over, which is needed for felting. Still simmering on this... 

A little snippet from my family's Thanksgiving festivities in Durham. Sister-in-law, Jess, snuck an awesome shot of me showing off my latest filet crochet endeavor. Getting mixed reviews on my choice of words on this one. How do you explain to your mom the artistic reasoning behind "Tig Ol' Bitties"?

 Be With Me

wool yarn, stranded knit 

15 ⅝ " x 15 ⅝"

2013

SOLD!

The show at the Green Bean came down this past weekend, and I have now had the chance to properly photograph those pieces that were finished ... at 3 am ... the day of the show. I put everything in my car and, by the time I got in it to leave, the whole thing smelt like Green Bean coffee, ha! Didn't think about how the fibers would absorb odors.

Overall, the show was a success. Sold one knitted piece and a few prints, and now the community knows me as the "Ain't That Some Shit" girl. It was the star of the show with everyone wanting to know "how long did that take you to make??!" I didn't track my time, but I started designing it in September and it was finished by the end of January. I worked on it at cookouts, road trips, and all through Christmas vacation, I would catch snippets of time when I had them, on top of longer days on my couch. Hard question to answer!

 Toothbrushes // Houses

wool yarn, stranded knit

12" x 12"

2013

I love this one. I realize it doesn't incorporate text, but I was so happy to finally be able to incorporate toothbrushes into a piece! I had this image of two brushes side-by-side rolling around in my mind for some time. There's definitely going to be a follow-up designs in this same style.

 Aloof #1 (blue)

wool/acrylic yarn, intarsia knit

16 ¾" x 30"

2013

  Aloof #2 (orange)

wool yarn, intarsia knit

16 ¾" x 30"

2013

 Aloof #3 (pink)

wool/acrylic yarn, intarsia knit

16 ¾" x 30"

2013

My brother thinks these 3 should be bought together as a unit, I had them individually priced, but I can imagine some cool ways to hang them together on a wall. They have been the most complicated design thus far, both in knitting and building the frame, but it paid off. I hung one of them sideways on my wall, and it's giving me ideas for a vertical-style knitting in the future...

Stay tuned!

McCann Brothers Quilt

65" x 60"

One quilt, three brothers, and their long history with sports.

I was a little down-trotted on this project after finishing the top. I felt like I didn't challenge myself, or do anything new and creative, but then I had a lot of fun with the quilting and that cheered me up. I wrote the three brothers' names with the piping that came from their baseball uniforms. I needed something loopy to break up all the squares and something new I hadn't tried before. 

I didn't buy enough backing fabric so I used what I could find to fill out the rest. They looked like the same color until I stood back to take this pic! Happy accident though, I really like the effect of the subtle patchwork.

A simple label with a good, motherly quote of Tammy's choosing; it fits, I believe. Typically on a label, you write where the quilt was made....but I couldn't decide where was where. Technically, I made the quilt in Hillsborough, Burlington, Durham, and Julian (not to mention Tammy lives in McCleansville). So what exactly do I write? I settled on North Carolina and moved on but I'm still mulling this over!

Didn't really think how the back would look when I traced around the App State helmet but love how it created this point of interest. I also traced around some numbers and found those popping out when I turned the whole thing over. 

You know, there is part of me that wishes I was doing more creative patchwork and not always making t-shirt quilts but there's still plenty of creativity to be had with projects like this. And everyone has these piles of sentimental, unworn shirts in their closets that are so much more appreciated in a project like this, I'm happy to be creating such special, personal quilts for my clients to snuggle under for years!

 Tryin' out some new stuff out on the back porch

 Flour and water never looked so good! Managed to get this done before the cold set in again.

If this paste resist technique turns out effective, maybe you'll see the finished result! Still waiting for the dye to dry before I get it in the wash and pull the letters off.