It’s been a long time since I’ve talked music on the blog! I guess I haven’t been too excited about any new music lately, but here is a happy song by Fang Island that I am loving. (Not so much the video, but whatever.)
Author: Anna
Lost at Sea
I was really flattered to be invited by Kristen Rask to participate in her upcoming group show at gallery hanahou, “Lost at Sea.”
The show will feature aquatic-themed works by 33 fiber artists, including Jenny Hart, Hine Mizushima, Jill Bliss, Helle Jorgensen (who made the beautiful crocheted piece pictured above), and other very talented people.
And here are the pieces I made for the show!
If you’re in the NYC area, please come to the opening on May 6th, 7-9 pm!
Anna Sui Giveaway Winner
We have a winner for the Anna Sui goodies giveaway!
There were 116 eligible commenters, and the winning commenter (selected by a random number generator) is number 109, Kati!
Congratulations, Kati! Once I get your mailing address, I’ll send the loot off to you.
Thank you to all who participated!
Tiny Twig
He used to be friends with a chimp, until he realized that the chimp was just using him to get ants out of a tree.
Bonney’s Yarn Bombing
Don’t tell anyone, but the person who recently yarn bombed a small town near New London, NH, is my mother-in-law!
It’s interesting to me to see yarn graffiti in a non-urban setting. Instead of street art, it looks more like a sign of an ancient ritual, or some mischief done by forest sprites in the night. Or, as Bonney told me that a neighbor surmised, trees marked to be cut down. (Let’s just hope no one with a chainsaw makes that mistake.)
Bonney tagged seven trees in all, and it seems to have whetted her appetite for delinquent behavior, because she’s planning more yarn-related surprises for her town!
Bonney’s Yarn Bombing
Don’t tell anyone, but the person who recently yarn bombed a small town near New London, NH, is my mother-in-law!
It’s interesting to me to see yarn graffiti in a non-urban setting. Instead of street art, it looks more like a sign of an ancient ritual, or some mischief done by forest sprites in the night. Or, as Bonney told me that a neighbor surmised, trees marked to be cut down. (Let’s just hope no one with a chainsaw makes that mistake.)
Bonney tagged seven trees in all, and it seems to have whetted her appetite for delinquent behavior, because she’s planning more yarn-related surprises for her town!
Nipsey Being Still
Every few days Nipsey sits still for minutes at a time. (Usually he’s asleep or being restrained.)
Here are some rare not-blurry shots of this bafflingly energetic creature!
I took this last one with my phone a few months ago, but it’s my favorite!
The Story of Puppet Love
I released the Puppet Love pattern about a year ago, but did I ever tell you how it came to be? The pattern was originally commissioned by a New York knitter named Katy, whose brother is a clinical psychologist who works with children. He had asked her to knit some hand puppets for him to use with his younger clients, and she was in need of a basic puppet body shape that she could modify to make into different types of people and animal puppets.
I worked with her to come up with a size and shape that was best for what her brother needed, and since last year, Katy has been hard at work making all kinds of puppets for him! Here are some of her photos.
I asked Katy to tell me a bit about the different characters she’s created, and this is what she said:
I made one for myself and ten for him. I sent him a picture of the yarn/unfinished puppets and asked him what he wanted each color to be. He sent me back a list. The ideas were mostly his. The execution of the ideas were mine.
He specifically asked for three different kinds of puppets. First, there is a family – Mom, Dad, Girl, and Boy. Obvious choices to act out events in the childs’ life. Second, there are some animals – Bird, Lion, Whale. I don’t know what the inspiration was for these, possibly the colors. The lion is my personal favorite. Third, there are what I call movie stars – Godzilla, Vampire, Avatar. I’m guessing recent movies inspired the choices, but we did need some fantasy creatures too. His bosses think they are great and from what I understand they are all using them in their practice as part of the play therapy toys.
I was so happy to hear that she’s getting a lot of use out of the pattern and her brother and his kids are getting a lot of use out of the puppets!
Designing this pattern was a fun challenge for me, and Katy was nice enough to let me add the pattern to my shop last year, so others could make their own customized puppets. And boy, have they ever! There are lots of creative Puppet Love mods on Ravelry, so I’ll have to share some of them here soon.