i made slippers.

look at these.

they are the result of last night's wool slipper class at the workroom as taught by one miss reva quam.

i was very excited to...

a) finally have slippers again
b) conquer my fear of sewing machines and irons with computers in them (well, kind of conquer)
c) finish something that was just for fun

the class was nice and easy, even for a rusty sewer like me and reva is a very clear and patient teacher. three hours = two new slippers. what a splendid way to spend a monday evening.

these ones were made out of an old cut-up blanket that was at the workroom, and are not quite felty enough (ie. they are fraying and shouldn't be). i might try another pair out of something more felty, but these will offer me a good opportunity to play with some embroidered edging if they keep unraveling.

pteridomania.

in researching the terraria, my readings wandered into historical context. that is where i found the connection between dr. nathaniel ward (inventor and namesake of the wardian case) and an ensuing pteridomania in britain and scotland. so what is pteridomania? it translates from latin roots to 'fern craze' and was one of a few results of dr. ward's glazed cases. having enclosed glass containers kept delicate plants (like ferns and, later, orchids) safe from the toxic mash of london's coal-fuelled air. one has to question how children were kept alive in this environment. presumably they were less novel than collecting ferns. during this mass hysteria, ladies and gentlemen of means took to the hills and meadows to scour then for ferns. they collected new species, grew their own from spores and eventually, for some hearty souls, got into the exciting territory of hybridization.

and how was the term coined? well, it came from this passage out of charles kingsley's 1855 book glaucus (note the other crafts that he claims were eclipsed by chasing the fern):

Your daughters, perhaps, have been seized with the prevailing 'Pteridomania'...and wrangling over unpronounceable names of species (which seem different in each new Fern-book that they buy)...and yet you cannot deny that they find enjoyment in it, and are more active, more cheerful, more self-forgetful over it, than they would have been over novels and gossip, crochet and Berlin-wool.

aside from threatening some natural fern stocks, this mania also bled its way into textile design, ceramics, glass wares, metal work and more. clearly there is much more reading to do. see? this is why i can't read fiction. there is too much weird real stuff to absorb. and i don't read very quickly.

hyperbolics in plastic and the oceanic travels of shopping bags.

pictured above is the beginning of a hyperbolic model i have been working on made entirely from plastic bag yarn. this is for an upcoming project (that will find its way into the window of the knit cafe) spearheaded by angelune des lauriers and intended as a craftivist earth day project.

angelune has assembled a group of crocheting friends (including shannon, kalpna, leah, marnie, myself and others) to make these plastic models, aping the oceanic forms of corals and other sea animals. the notion is to assemble a great plastic reef as a way to bring attention to the great pacific garbage patch (also known as the trash/garbage vortex or garbage island). this fetid new continent, located somewhere between the hawaiian islands and the coast of california, is reported to be twice the size of texas and is composed prominently of discarded plastics. it weighs an estimated three million tons and has resulted from a combination of ocean currents and collective carelessness (although i'm not sure quite how much we should blame the ocean). other reports note the area to be more like a massive garbage stew (as opposed to one contiguous garbage heap) which might explain why google earth doesn't just simply display this 'island.' regardless of these details, there is much agreement that this is a big mess and it's our fault.

so what is there to do? well, currently, i have decided to crochet plastic coral in the hopes that someone smarter will see this project, be alerted to the ocean's ordeal and brilliantly solve the problem. i know it's not the most active choice, but it's better than freezing in a state of absolute confusion and doing nothing at all.

and what can you do? if you are a genius, you can figure out how to fix this problem and make the world okay again. if you are not a genius (or if the above task is going to take you a while), you can drop off your colourful plastic bags at the knit cafe to be turned into yarn and then crochet models. for me, the ideal bag is ripped and unusable. i can still work around most rips when making the yarn and don't need the handles at all. this also makes me feel that the bag has been used to its maximum ability.

i should also mention that this project is highly derivative of some incredible past works, most notably the hyperbolic coral reef conceived by the institute for figuring to address issues of marine coral blanching and the later plastic bag sea crochet of helle jorgensen. in the name of education, these undertakings seem open to future interpretations/incarnations but props are certainly due. go check out their sites.



on a more pragmatic note, i have also learned that bamboo hooks and plastic yarns do not mix well. be forewarned, lest you suffer the same fate as me. i'm glad i hung on to all my metal hooks.

artists' flea market, part the second.

aitor and i spent another day in katharine mulherin's lovely gallery space today hocking our wares and meeting new folks. it was less bitter cold than last week, and there was certainly more bustle about.



it's been a pretty sweet four-week experiment (with its terminus next sunday). i really get excited about art and craft interminglings. katharine also has big things planned for next weekend's wrap-up. as i said last time, these events are small but very worth checking out. there is a feeling of undiscoveredness all around, be it rifling through people's old stuff or encountering new artists. i also really like the revelatory nature of displaying one's art alongside one's cast-offs. it really reveals a lot about the artists in a way that never occurred to me at other flea markets. maybe the gallery just inspires such contemplation. but speaking of discovering things,...





today i was extra excited to encounter the personage and work of one sarah mcneil, a recent toronto transplant from australia. her work certainly spans the art/craft gap with an aesthetic and sense of humour that both appeal to me greatly.

i purchased one of her zines and read it to myself on the short streetcar ride home. it was the perfect length to take me stop-to-stop which reminded of how the time it takes to get from the land of point to the pointless forest is directly proportional to the time it takes to sing a song (big props if you get that allusion - it also means we shared a part of our childhoods).





just look at that table of contents. how could i not be smitten? after my chance encounter with mia nolting in portland and with ray fenwick's hall of best knowledge on my bedside table, i am beginning to feel surrounded by a comforting swirl of lists and charts and text as art. and i will tell you something: it feels good.

issues of security in america's new dawn.

envelopes are still trickling in from collection phase one. it's nice. the pace is easier to keep up with and the security envelope project has gone back to being a loving process to me (i react poorly to being beholden).

above is the new pattern i found in a contribution from frank in indiana. i have seen this pattern before but never in red. i love it!

in a recent letter, my friend melissa brought up the idea that i should bring this project to the states, what with the connotations of security there these days. of course, i had considered these themes before but they were not central in my artistic motivations for this project. regardless of that, she's right; security seems to be on everyone's minds these days in one way or another (american or not). i like the notion that these scraps of paper could keep us all safe. i think it's working for me. there is a security in being focused on a project or goal. well, it's one of the best kinds of security i have come upon in my creative life, at any rate.

happenings far away (that i have a light involvement in).

trampoline hall pie by margaux williamson

A few things have been piling up in my inbox and mind - things to which i have vague allegiances or have subtle involvements in, but all things happening outside of toronto that i will not be able to attend.

firstly, i am busily hammering out buttons for the vancouver installment (premiere?) of the trampoline hall lectures. misha is flying out there to do a one-night-only presentation of the show, curated by veda hillie, as part of the push festival. my old frined johnny b will be manning the merch table, with buttons made especially for the event and trampoline hall's ubiquitous comic book zine. go say hi! the information is kind of hidden on the push website, so i recommend checking out the facebook event for details.

little mountain crest by ehren salazar

on february 13, avncouver's little mountain studios will be putting on their first off-site event with a night of the hidden agenda variety show at the waterfront theatre. my involvement in the birth of hidden agenda is so convoluted that i won't even go into it. but i can say that i have looked over the line-up and it seems pretty awesome. in my opinion, you should never miss a chance to see ehren salazar do anything. the creaking planks (who i just saw perform on my last visit to vancouver) are also a sight to behold. and the waterfront is such a lovely venue. it's one of my favorites in vancouver.

berner/wiseman poster by tyler brett

and finally, coming up in march, is an amazing little show in bruno, saskatchewan, that i am allowed to claim some kind of involvement in. i didn't really do anything to make this show happen, but did serve as the connective tissue between bob and the good folks at all citizens. aside from looking like it will be an amazing show, this event also gets to serve the added purpose of fulfilling mr. wiseman's lifelong dream of performing in bruno. although i do not know mr. berner (or i don't think i do), i have long been a fan of his music and have even read his book on accordion playing which is very funny and will make you a genius.

city of craft snowstorm t-shirt party.

i already used the best camus humour i could muster on the city of craft blog so i am not exactly sure what existentialist sales pitch is left for me and these shirts. i was hoping to convince the world that our new merch could protect a body from frostbite and hypothermia...or feelings of disillusionment. what do i need to say to convince you of that? or will these pictures work?

with the snow mageddoning down again today, i decided it was high time to drag my life partner out into the fray to take some pictures of these brand spanking new tees, fresh off shannon gerard's able squeegee. the image comes to us courtesy of caitlyn murphy, up-and-coming illustrator to the stars, who orginally made the design for our 2008 city of craft show programs. we decided it was lovely enough to merit a slightly less ephemeral incarnation...so now you can wear it on your chest! you will also be able to wear it under your arm, but i don't have pictures of the new tote bags yet. they look pretty swank, though (hemp and cotton blends have really grown up).



these will be making their real world debuts at the love and rummage trunk show in a week and a bit, so you can ogle and molest them there. there is some chatter that city of craft may also be launching a humble etsy shop, too. well, i made one. now we just need to sort out the logistics of filling it with goodies. out of curiosity, would anyone here be interested in such a thing?



thanks to caitlyn, shan and aitor for being so helpful with this project. hopefully this will keep all of toronto stylish and crafty at the same time. unless life is meaningless, that is.