Waltzing Knitilda

Where are they now? Xmas present followup

First off, sorry about the light postings, but I've been kinda down because of still more memorial services and news of more near-and-dears-to-my-close-friends dying. I'll be back in full swing though soon.

In the meantime... we bring you..

Where Are They Now?  aka what's become of this year's knitted Xmas presents. 

Many of you know that when you knit up a present it takes on a life of its own upon giving.

Sometimes, the gift is received joyfully and worn with panache and enthusiastic words of appreciation are uttered.  Every time you see the recipient they are wearing it, and they gush for years about how meaningful and beautiful the gift is, and how it saved them from a pit of despair, or turned their life around, or something like that. This is optimal.

Sometimes, enthusiastic words are uttered but the item is preserved unworn in a closet because it is "too nice" to wear. The recipient marvels at the beauty and care, the perfection of the craftsmanship, but this stops them from wearing it. This is less than optimal.  You want them to enjoy this loving stitchwork for pete's sake, not preserve it like Stinky Pete the Prospector from Toy Story 2 in a box, resigned to a bitter fate as moth treats.

On the other end of the spectrum, you get the recipients who say things like, "Why did you make it when you could have bought it?"  Or, "I put it in the machine and something happened to it.  Can you make me another one?"  Or, "I'm allergic to wool." Or they never wear it. Or never comment about it.  Or you see it crumpled up with the paint rags. And you get that sinking feeling. And vow that's the last time you'll ever knit that person anything again.

This year, I'm pleased to report that my gift list was on the good end of the spectrum.  Without further ado...

Told you it would look better on her than on my piano.  How cute is this picture.  And what a clever way to wear that scribble lace stole/shawl. 

And she even sent me the picture of her wearing it !  This is good.

Now this one was interesting. Intended recipient loved them. However, so did her college-age daughter.   She begged her mother for them, saying that she would be just the coolest on-campus if she had them.

Mom?  You guessed it.  These are now being flashed around at USC's film school.

They've gone Hollywood. Not at all what I expected.

As for lil Juju.

She of the devilish glint and gold lame.

I'm pleased to report that the recipient's luck appears to be turning around since her arrival.  My angst about contributing to bad karma have been eased.

Heh.

It's not because lil Juju's had pins thrust into her.

How indelicate.

No.

Rather, she has become the favorite toy of Whiskers the wonder cat.

Everyone's a winner.

But I probably should make another pair of gauntlets for my SIL.

Crocheted metallica

People regularly ask me, "So, what kind of art do you do?" A small sample follows.

Abstract. Wire. Floating in space or pinned to the wall, where shadows then also become part of the work. Like this one. Which is small. Only a few inches across.  Entitled It Doesn't Matter Where You've Been.

Crocheted.

And my painting's abstract too.

Here's a link to some images.

These are some of the pieces in the exhibition last year at Haven Arts Center.

This is a very large painting. The title is Though Nothing Can Bring Back the Hour. All you English majors will know where the title came from.

The photo is quite a bit bluer than the real thing, but you can get the sense of it anyway. In real life it has less of a magenta tone, a bit more of a grey tone, but a clear blue all the same. It's about 5 feet by 5 feet.

Actually the paintings came first. Then I wanted the strands in the paintings to pop out. In a supreme duh moment, I realized I could just lose the background and crochet and twist and form wire.

And that led to the rest. Though I did this painting after I began with the wire sculptures.  It works for me to go back and forth sometimes.

AWOL

Another week, another funeral.  Out of town. This time my best friend's mother.  Sigh. All I'm going to say about it is the best quote I heard all week was, "Guns don't kill people, religion does."  Sums it up.

And... yesterday was my blogiversary.  So happy bday to this blog.  Lots o' visitors, more than I would have expected (nearly 30,000!).  About 156 posts. Not bad. It's been really fun. Nana is probably smiling about it.

More of what I've been up to later this week.  With pix.

So, thanks guys for sharing the ride with me.  Clink. Looking forward to another year.

And, Syl, we'll miss you.  So have fun wherever you are. You raised a great daughter and I'll never forget how much fun we all had around the kitchen over holidays. Thanks.