rochester, the bester.

may one, day one. i can't believe we are still operating on as little sleep as we have had. we spent the day today at the inaugural incarnation of rochester's mayday underground crafts and art. i always like going to new shows and new places. rochester is very close to toronto (thank goodness), but i don't find myself there very often. as we drove in, i was reminded of a craft fair i must have done here in 2005 or 2006. it was small and also included a punk rock show; those were somewhat different days.

today's show was a bit larger than i expected. it was still small enough that i managed to take some walks around. with three hours of sleep, my gaze was a bit hazy, though. it took some serious hyperbole to catch my attention. speaking of which, below is some majorly hyperbolic works by carol traynor of buenahelena. one is an entirely hand beaded ouija board and the other an embroidered and beaded 80's skirt.

in my exhaustion, i did not ask much about artistic motivations but i know the madonna skirt was related to getting through a tough time in her life.

also, who can argue with a craft fair that has a back alley barbeque?

i even ended up with a bit of great loot, too. a yeti ring by buenahelena (made from real yeti fur), a felted owl by peaches products (one of the organizers) and some incredible handspun yarn by crumbs & co. i love the colour palette of the latter and plan to make a neck warmer out of it (i conveniently forgot all the ones i normally use at home). in fact, jazz, who spins everything at crumbs & co., has an exceptional sense of colour. i wish i could have bought a whole bunch of her blocky striping yarns. although not pictured, i was also deeply tempted by the yarns and rovings from fuzzy bunny. i could see the reverend rolling his eyes at me, though.