(Just Another) Melange Monday

Hello everyone - it's Monday, time for melange.

I was recently picking up a few things in my local whole foods co-op, and I stopped by the magazine rack to check out what was currently on tap. I was instantly drawn to the above cover, the spring issue of Tricycle magazine. It shows a portion of one piece of Jakkai Siributr's textile art, Red Buddha. If you were to see this cover up close, you would instantly notice that a large portion of this piece is made up of crochet motifs, mixed with other found objects. It is absolutely stunning. (And, if you're interested in reading a quite different take on the annual Burning Man festival, definitely check out this issue - it's a fascinating spin on what happens in the desert sand every year.)

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I am a big fan of foreign films. While I normally gravitate toward French films, I will peruse all of the foreign language film section of my library to see what might look intriguing. I've come upon a foreign film distributor, filmmovement.com, and have been exploring their releases found in the stacks. The most recent I've seen, 2011's The Piano In A Factory, is simply superb. Ostensibly about a father's quest to provide his daughter with a piano, it's in turns comic, poignant, and quite visually appealing (in an industrial communist blue collar sort of way). Initially, watch for the story. Then, stay for the cinematography. And the costumes. And the music. And all the bicycle riding.

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Finally, I leave you with more of the current fiber on the hooks/needles. I cannot seem to get out of the way of projects lately (always a pleasant state of events). I must tell you how much I love the Dream In Color Wisp in a new-ish colorway, Rose Anguish, that I recently received. On the DIC Wisp page, they show the colorway on a different base, which is nice, but in Wisp is so delicate. Just yummy. 

I quite like my yarny life.

What a Difference a Little Weight Makes

Anyone for a Forged Joy motif?

Happy Friday everyone - boy, the weeks certainly do fly by.


As regular readers of this blog may remember, I'm captaining a wee Ravellenics Game team in my group on Ravelry. Since the games don't officially start for a week, I've combined those events with my current Romantique join-a-long (JAL). As part of the JAL, I've been working on two versions of the Forged Joy Shawl, and I thought it would be instructive to see how the motifs look using differing yarn weights:

On the left is my laceweight version, using Centolavaggi and a 3.00 mm hook; on the right is the fanastatic Neighborhood Fiber Co.'s Capital Luxury Lace in the Belair colorway. It's the same base that I used for my sample, so I'm also using the same size G/4.00 mm hook. Both of these have been lightly blocked (don't mind my less than perfect staging on the left!), and there's about a 2" (5 cm) square difference in size. While the one on the right is delicate, the Capital Luxury Lace works up more like sock yarn/light fingering weight; the Centolavaggi is a true laceweight and extremely delicate. Both will eventually get a final blocking once all of the motifs are done, put together and the edging is completed, but it's intriguing to see the difference yarn weight and hook size can make on a project at this stage.

The smaller one on the left is one of my model thank-yous, so even losing approximately 8" of wingspan on each side, I know the final shawl will still be plenty big. Hopefully I'll be able to take photos of each once they are complete so that you will be able to see that both sizes are quite sufficient for a shawl. I suspect that this pattern would also work well with a heavy fingering/light sportweight yarn, but I wouldn't go much heavier than that.

I do hope you'll head on over to Andrea's blog - Wisdom Begins in Wonder - and see what other fibers people are working with this week.

Only one week before the start of the Sochi games -
will I get this done before then?

And Now for a Little Jewelry and a Bag

Next up from Fleurs et L'eau - a bag for most any occasion and a little summer bling.

I love bags. Along with shoes, I could have a different one to coordinate with every outfit of every day.  The Melina Clutch was one of the first patterns I ever wrote, and bags continue to animate my designs. For this collection, the Anyone for a Stroll? Bag has a sassy shape that's just big enough for holding the stuff necessary for well-prepared day trips, yet compact enough to easily carry while walking. I used thick 'n thin yarn which, when paired with a just-slightly-smaller-than-recommended hook size, yields a wonderfully stiff fabric. If there's some uneven handspun lying around, this is the perfect project for it.

Additionally, one could just stop once the crocheting is complete and go directly to button and handles, but I've lined my sample. There's something about great lining fabric peeking out from a bag that just makes the accessory.

I have also designed my first jewelry pieces in this collection - the Constellation Bracelet and Earrings. It could be easy for me to also become a jewelry junkie, so this blingy foray could potentially be sooooo bad. Much like the Le Bateau shawl, this design came to me in large part last summer. I had a sample all worked up ... and then started to tinker. Thank goodness for patient testers, although I am thrilled with the outcome; the delay was well worth it. I'm equally thrilled with the response to this pattern - I wasn't, quite frankly, expecting it - but I'll take it, thank you very much!