mysteries of the universe revealed (they mostly have to do with clothes).

photo of iron cobra with ken farrell by skye regan

above is a picture from the show graham and i hosted a few weeks back - the one where i wore the borrowed dress from honest threads. i was hoping to be able to report more interesting findings regarding my experience of trying to be someone else by wearing their clothes. really, though, i think i just discovered that i must be bigger than anyone who wears this dress in a comfortable manner. i am very tall, so the dress' waistline hit me in the bottom of the ribs. the sensation of being squeezed from all sides really eclipsed any subtler experiences that may have been offered me in this borrowed gear. that said, i did feel much more myself when i returned to my plaid a-line skirt and turtle neck sweater in the show's second half (about four hours into the epic line-up and seven hours into wearing the dress). as a curious side note, the dress was bruisingly tight but the cardigan was massive.

all this brings me to some actual points of interest regarding my evening's attire. when i went to return the items to honest threads, i did, indeed, find information about them on the wall. the reason we had missed it in the first place is that these articles had be part of another artist's piece and were thus photographed and written about as part of something bigger. actually, they seemed to be part of two interrelated projects by toronto artist stephanie cormier. the series, called the goodwill and salvation project, consisted of purchasing garments from thrift stores, embroidering inspirational sayings into their seams and then donating them back to the stores (or returning them). the dress i borrowed was kept (and presumably worn) by her because the embroidery was visible. the cardigan, on the other hand, seemed to be part of an offshoot project. it has a name sewn into the collar (a feature that drew me to it, actually). miss cormier would set pieces with names in them aside in an attempt to research and/or track down the former owners. i know that the embroidered dresses were photographed by her in organic heaps and forms but know very little about the clothing genealogy project and where/if it terminated. i would be very interested to find out, though, as both of these undertakings sparked just as much curiosity in me as the garments i was so drawn to. i see she also contributed to the portable library project, so if anyone has any big scoops on her or these project, feel free to pass them along. it felt like such a treasure hunt to find as much as i have. it also feels like a hunt similar to the one she is on in finding former clothing owners. miss cormier, did you ever fathom that this intrigue would extend in two directions? maybe you did.

spring day in toronto.

today we went out without jackets! i just wore a light cardigan and a scarf - didn't even pull out the mittens i had put in my purse. we took transit to honest ed's (in case you were wondering about the positive financial impact of housing an art show, honest ed's, it has rekindled my appreciation of your maze-like establishment). i had plans to get some jars to help sort both our pantry and my crafting supplies. to my way of thinking, the pantry model is the most useful organizational system for any grouping of non-paper items. this applies to rolled oats, balls of angora yarn, beads and lentils.

after honest ed's, we walked all the way home with many stops between. although the reverend and i have both done longs walks like this over our cash-poor winter, they were not very comfortable. this was a change of pace - 16 degrees. in march!

along the way (we think we were on markham just north of queen), we encountered an amazing house that neither of us had seen before. it echoed a couple of detroit tourist highlights, the heidelberg project and hamtramck disneyland. but how had we never stumbled upon it before? it felt like we were on the road again in our own town (a feeling i have been looking for since returning). any information you have about this place would be avidly consumed.

we also managed a few extra errands, as any route from the annex to parkdale is littered with good places to visit. most notably, i delivered my first little bundle of buttons to type books on queen west. they have invested in some mores buttons (of the read, write and think varieties) to compliment their well selected array of interesting art and literature publications. of course, i fell in love with something after only allowing myself ten seconds of browsing. we had to leave quickly, lest my payment would not end up on my screaming credit card where it belonged. still, it is so nice to go to a book shop that is so well put together and thoughtfully filled.

in slighly sadder news, i also went to the ontario crafts council gallery to pick up my installation - it came down on sunday. it was kind of amazing to see my once glorious grid reduced to a pointy heap of nails and magnets again. i suppose i need to start hustling to make the public side of the project rise again. i also, as always, have a big backlog of envelope contributions to go through. rust never sleeps. say, does your gallery need my button project in it for a while...?

lauren comes over.

last night lauren came over, we made trampoline hall tickets (with our sweet kisses) and watched carl on american television. it was more fun and laughs than i have had in a while and it was great to see carl on t.v. - although, i think aitor might have been marginally more entertained by the antics that lauren and i got up to. we mostly took our pictures next to carl's face on the screen. way to go, carl! i hope you sell a trillion books.

fame, famous friends, and other brilliant ideas.

broken pencil back page pictorial by claire manning

first, the back page pictorial done by claire manning for the last issue of broken pencil has appeared online (possibly a while ago, i haven't been checking very well). i don't know miss manning but i totally love the illustration she did (as well as her greater body of work). it made me feel so important to have my interview and likeness rendered in such a way. i especially liked the scalloped crochet edging - it's the same edging i use in my neck warmers. this attention to detail has not gone unnoticed, miss manning. the issue, by the way, is about comedy, which might explain why this piece spans both worlds of my life. i have a new project in the works that will also encompass my various worlds of interest and experience. but more that soon.

but back to issues of fame (and explorations thereof)...tonight i am hunkering down in my apartment with aitor and lauren to watch our friend carl get really famous. he is going to be interviewed by stephen colbert on the colbert report about his amazing book, let's talk about love. apparently, it was mentioned by some actor i've never heard of on the red carpet at the oscars and a week and a half later - famous. carl's book is very deserving of attention, too. i've been meaning to recommend it here but i never understood how it would fit in. apparently, famousness is a theme today so it fits in. you should buy and read the book. i am no good at sysnopses so i will just say that it is one of the best things i have read in my life. there is a big public viewing of the broadcast (and a rock show, too?) happening at the pilot tonight. but i think having friends appear on television offers a rare opportunity to sit around in your underwear and watch them talk.

further, in the brilliant-but-not-on-television catagory, my friend ryan kamstra is starting a murder folk night with a sing-a-long componenent at the katharine mulherin gallery. being an avid collectivist, he also has a request line through which you can demand he learn and sing you murder ballads. i have to say, the genre really scares me. i even got scared thinking about the songs i was requesting. i think this evening will wreck me for life. but it's also a great idea.

further hooking.

above is the newest of the plastic bag hyperbolic models i have been working on. i was really excited when i discovered this specific type of vegetable bag that can be cut thin and crocheted at a relatively small guage. these bags have writing on them so i separated the bag parts into 'dirty' and 'clean.' this is the clean model. i am making another one using the exact same pattern, only out of the dirty bag parts so it has little blotches on it. oddly, that one is turning out bigger and looser which i can not understand.

this little guy is making me happy. the specific kind of plastic gives the form a soft opalescence. it is firm and soft all at the same time.

by the way, if any of you torontonians have any extra plastic bags (especially my most coveted yellow bay bags), you can still drop them off at the knit cafe. we have another plastic bag crochet yarn meet-up planned for this weekend and all of our stocks are running low. bag contributions would be much obliged.

i should probably also mention that if you are in the mood to learn some basic crochet (and contemplate some higher mathematics), i do have another hyperbolic crochet class coming up at the knit cafe at the beginning of april. you can check their course schedule here for all the details. these classes are totally not hard and a lot of fun.

tending shop / keeping house.

i have been trying to clean up around the house. it's a daunting task when your home is also your place of work. i am also exceptionally bad at containing my creative work to my office. it's everywhere. we haven't had an operational kitchen table in months (but thank you for the loaned paper cutter, leah. it lives there now).

in all the manic tidying (which is barely perceptible), i also managed to document a few new things and get them listed in my etsy shop. secret message envelopes, neck warmers...and more is on the way.

in the world of online commerce, i should also mention a few more updates. the souvenir shop has decided to restructure their operations and has pared away many of the works they were selling online (including mine). after a year of operation, they have decided to focus on other projects (like the amazing penny smash, one would assume). i wish them all the best. those folks at motherbrand are always up to interesting new design-based things and i look forward to hearing about all the fantastic new undertaking they dream up. the confusion corner buttons will now be available through my etsy shop and, as always, at out of the blue in winnipeg.

but as one door closes, another opens. although i am very late in announcing the opening of their online storefront, renegade handmade has launched the much-anticipated cyber version of their popular chicago shop. my available button sets can be found here. it's not a bad place to pick some up, either, as sue's collection of indie craft stuff is unparalleled; one could fill a shopping cart there pretty quickly. i have always been particularly impressed by renegade handmade's collection of art and prints. it's a pretty singular grouping of artists. congratulations on the new site, sue! it looks wonderful.

sneak peek.

here's a little preview of something i am working on at the moment - a series of sealed envelopes that magically reveal secret messages when held to light.

i've been using magic a lot in my work lately. if only i could use it to sleep normal hours or make spring come early.

and to give credit where it is due, the font used is pee pants by kirk shelton. i wanted to do my own lettering but then when i stumbled upon this font it was exactly what i wanted so i wrote him for permission. thanks, mr. shelton!