#58 of 365 - Guardian Angel, thy Name is Stephanie2

I really hate going to the PO, well, I really hate doing business at the USPS. So to avoid a meltdown on my part, I use a contract PO branch inside one of the local Christian Book Stores. In this town, you can't swing a cat without hitting one of these stores, mind you. Though, they don't all have mailing facilities. This is me, mailing off an IME book and some Asylum yarn. That is Stephanie 2 (there are two Stephanies that work there) helping me out. She makes the chore of sending out stuff such a pleasure. She has the patience to put up with making up the postage in stamps instead of a sticker as the IME folks like to collect the stamps as art supplies or to add to the art in the books. Thanks dear one.

#57 of 365 - Art Today

Today was primarily devoted to doing the art that I bought some of the supplies whilst doing yesterday's errands. Deborah came over and kept me company while I played in the 3 Moleskines I have in hand from the Ravelry International Moleskine Exchange. I gnerally do a theme of art in the books that come my way. Today's turned out to be a Spring themed poem with steampunked fleurs. Don't ask me why, just the mood I was in I suppose, as I am SO ready for Spring to arrive.

The ingredients for these pages are patterned paper, green flower shapes, gears, and rhinestones, with tags, ribbons and yarn. Sorta of Shabby Chic meets the Industrial Revolution. The bit of poetry is from "A Celtic Miscellany" by Kenneth Hurlstone Jackson. It is from the chapter on Nature. What I used is as follows: May-time, fair season, perfect in its aspect then; blackbirds sing in full song, if there be a scanty beam of day. Waxing philosophical to boot...

Creative Every Day - Nature

Here's a sketch for the current CED project I am working on... It happens to be done as a sketch in someone else's Moleskine. However, it does give me a feel for the subject. I am sure that the owner of the Moleskine will be happy with having a preview sketch.

Ravens are an ongoing fascination with their tricksters selves born from an encounter in a reservation in the 4 Corners area back in 2002. As I was driving through north of Yuba City, I saw a raven harassing a Native American long distance runner. It was trying to pull hair from her pony tail. My fascination continues today with the 200th anniversary of Edgar Allan Poe's birthday this year. I did a postcard challenge earlier this year for Quilt Art about the poem the Raven.

BTW: Anne, this is all your fault. Here's the study for that 12 x 12 canvas we talked about earlier. The right side raven will have a shiny object in it's beak when all is said and done..

Creative Every Day - Dragonfly Socks

Here's today's Creative Every Day effort. It is a pair of pages in a 3.5 x 5.5 inch Moleskine Notebook from the E=Mc2 IME Group on Ravelry. This book is part of the Moleskine Round Robin, which I have blogged about before. This particular book is from the second group. This is the same group that I did the Ravens and Roses themed 5 x 8 inch book for. (See post of 01/22/09 for a look see at that book)

This page says "Dream Bigger" and the "R" of Bigger goes off of the page. It is collaged from torn bits of scrapbooking papers. I made a ribbon page marker with a fob from a recycled bob of plastic that some stickers came on. I am trying to be a greener crafter and repurpose things. I stitched plastic letters of the book owner's name inside the plastic sleeve and attached it to the ribbon with an initialed brad (This part is missing from the picture as the book owner doesn't need to know what I have been up to: wink, wink). I used stickers for the lettering. I also sketched and used altered bits of stuff on the two prior pages.












Here is a picture of one of the latest pair of Dragonfly Socks. This pair were knit on Size 2 Brittany DPNs from a Cherry Tree Hill Sock yarn in the Blue/Green Colourway. I got two little bits of pooling from the knitting of the heel flap, not enough to bug me though, for which I am very glad.

The previous pair of Dragonflies(the purple/green stripey ones) were knit on 4s. I definitely like the smaller needle size in terms of the fit of the socks but hated them for the fact that I broke two of them just knitting along on this pair. Never mind, that they all look like smiles from bending as I knit.

What happens when knitting fast with wooden needles also known as How to Put a Smile on Your Wooden Needles? Apply Heat and Humidity from my hands.

These needles are only a week old. There really is no excuse for the breakage, in my opinion. They are made of birch wood and have a lifetime guarantee, so it's no big really. Except, the LYS doesn't have any of this size in stock at the mo. Yes, I know there are metal needles, but they fatigue my hands faster than anything and I like to knit for long stretches, sigh.

I Am So Sad or the International Moleskine Exchange

I have had various Moleskines (Moley) in my purse for the last seven years, as they are a great way to corral my thoughts and little bits of paper. I lost my last one in September and I still feel the pain of that. I replaced it, but the information, like a handfasting ceremony and shirt measurements for a couple of guys I know are missing. Never mind, the business cards and phone numbers I need to have on a regular basis. It's was like losing my brains, ouchers! My books have always been workhorses for me, so the opportunity to make art in them is really exciting. I have replaced my purse one, of course, but I still think I will find some bit of information I am looking for in the new one, but it's JUST NOT THERE...

As to what this post is about: I am involved in a two Ravelry.com (the knitting and crochet online community) exchanges of art based in Moleskine books like Picasso and Hemingway used for their writing and sketches. Here's the link to Moleskine: http://www.moleskines.com/?gclid=CPzpl8_jopgCFRwDagoddmh2Aw.

One of the books traveling is a small unlined thick paged one with no theme. I neglected to take a picture of it before I sent it across the pond to Lini, the Essex Hooker, who has sent it on to Frewen, the Forager. I decorated the cover of that one with a few labels and such and asked my fellow Moleskine artistes if they would add bits to it as well as their contributions to the inside.

The other Moley is a large one with gridded pages. The front is pictured here. It is decorated to reflect the theme I chose for it. That theme is Ravens and Roses, as it is both the 200th anniversary of the birth of Edgar Allan Poe and the 250th anniversary of the birth of Robbie Burns, this month of January and this year of 2009. These two poets are favorites of mine and I wanted to reflect their contributions to my life and literature. That book is in South Carolina with Chantelle, aka the BrownCoatKnitter. I am also an American of Scottish descent, so the theme reflects me even more..

Each person involved in the round robin chooses whether their Moley would have a theme or not. We each get 2 or more pages to reflect the theme or what ever we want in each book as it comes by. We get about two weeks to work on them before sending them onto the next person in line. We have also been sending little gifties to those who are working on our books. When done my fellow artists will all have a wonderful collection of hand-made beaded stitch markers and Lini Baby will have a few kewl book marks as I send her them instead of stitch makers as she is a crocheter more than a knitter...

Right now, I am sans a Moley to work on and feel bereft. We are sending them around the world for up to 13 people to add their artistic vision to... According to USPS, one left Denver this morning for my house. I can't wait to see it and add my little bit to it.