Bags

Two more bags, finished, tagged and ready for the market tomorrow. They're lined, with a pocket inside, and each strap sewn on in three separate places, because I'm finicky about that sort of thing.

Nifty or Thrifty?

Printing tags for my bags (I know, it should be International Rhyming Day or something...)

I'm trying to decide whether they look charmingly hand-made or simply cheap. Not that the two have to be mutually exclusive.

It's impossible to be unhappy in a poncho. *

The Great Big Secret Thing I referred to yesterday - finished! I'm hoping that the sweater curse doesn't cover ponchos. Should be safe.

Crocheted from a 1978 pattern using Elle Pure New Wool.


* quoting Vince Noir from The Mighty Boosh Season 1.

2 Questions

What do you do when you have a book deadline, a market coming up on Saturday, and a Great Big Secret Thing to work on? Why, you decide that you simply cannot live without some lacy cotton facecloths. So you make them.

My other question is not for the queasy: How big do dust bunnies have to get before they could possibly attain consciousness? I'm trying to work out how much time I have left before I absolutely have to deal with them....

edit: see a dust bunny in captivity on wish jar ! Mine are about that size, which means there's still time. If they're easy to catch, they're not very clever yet.

Prototype

One thing I've thought of doing with the fabrics I've printed so far. My sister made the bag, because to me sewing is a mysterious, unpredictable craft (though I'm trying to learn).

Here's an extra shot to show the nifty corners of the bag, and also what we're up against in terms of renovating our house. But that's another story!

Hannah Morris

If there's one thing you do every morning, it should be checking Hannah Morris' column on Women24.

Time Wasting

Yesterday Heather wrote a very flattering post about my work, which, if you didn't know me, could create the impression that I use my time extremely productively. To correct that, here's proof that I'm not quite so focussed... Buttons! Sewn together! For my shoes! I like the idea of decorating Crocs, but the charms cost a fortune, and there aren't that many nice ones anyway.


It's easier to do with a button that has a shank, but flat buttons also work if you hold them a little distance apart when sewing them together. Sew through as many times as you can, and then a few more times to make sure.


I saw this idea on a website a few months ago, and didn't bookmark it. Now, Google as I might, I can't find it to credit it.

One Last Look

There's no right way to create a comic, but there does seem to be a best way. Most comic artists say that they taught themselves and that they arrived at their preferred method through trial and error. And apart from the odd superstition ("Only draw on the wrong side of the paper" or "Only rub the pencil out after the ink has dried for at least 18 hours") these methods are remarkably similar.


So here's mine. Not a list of rules, just a good way to turn that terrifyingly blank sheet of paper into a coffee-stained comic page.

Thumbnail sketch. This is only about 5 cm high, and usually one of several versions. If the comic's longer than a page, I write the story out first, and decide what will happen on each page. Then I try to fit the action into that page, working out how many frames it would need and how much can happen in each one.

Working on the paper I'll ink on (no time for tracing or redrawing), I draw the sizes of the frames and rough sketches of the action, and work out where the speech bubbles will be. I put the text in at this point.


Then I draw all the stuff that goes around the speech bubbles neatly.

Inked page, with pencil rubbed out. The crosses are to remind me which areas will be solid black. Rubbing out pencil can sometimes remove some of the ink off the page, so it makes sense to have as little to retouch as possible.

Final page, with all the black filled in.

If you like this geeky side of comic appreciation, have a look at comic tools for shots of people's drawing tables and info and opinions about different papers and pencils and pens.

Jessica Abel has a great tutorial about comic making in the DIY section of her Artbabe site as well.

Socks AND Shoes!

Miranda-Jane started off as a quiet little mouse with a taste for neutral tones and subtle textures. Then she got some socks.

The school prefects keep threatening detention unless she pulls them up, but she's just not that kind of mouse anymore.

She's new in my shop today!

Knitted in the round with DK wool. Completely detachable socks.

Hooded Thing

I made this up a little while ago. It's based on Teva Durham's Fair Isle Hooded Capelet from her Loop-d-loop book. It's great for working in, and apparently also good for sneaking up on flamingos.

Instead of a fair isle trim I did a variation of a leaf trim - and I'm not entirely sure if that increase at the back of the neck is in the pattern! Once I had the gist of the shape I just kept knitting. Oh, and I knitted it on 2 needles and sewed it up at the front.

I can't remember what the wool is, other than that it's some sort of Aran weight wool blend. It's already been this and this, so I've had it for a while.

1000 Drawings

This looks like a good excuse to sit and doodle for a few hours! Click on the picture for a larger version or go to http://www.1000drawings.co.za or http://www.1000drawings.blogspot.com for more info.

Tagged...

I've been tagged by Thea, another South African who sells on Etsy. I really can't think of 7 facts about me, so, following the lead of Skinny laMinx, I'm going visual with this one.

7 things I use every day, 7 things that make me happy:

Chair and quilt that belonged to my great-aunt, I think. The quilt is essential for working late at night.

Wooden comb.

The pen holders come from a junk shop; the colours were too good to resist, but luckily they're comfortable to use as well.

Pencils in all the grades I need, always sharp.

Addi needles and a coaster cut from a tube of biscuits. (That's 2 things, but the needles looked very small on their own.)

Sugar bowl from Liesel Trautman.

New teacup from Mr Price Home

Tagging:
The Empire Collective
I want my future to be ... different
The Pinko Bitch Knits
brainylady
kiwiknitter
The Shopping Sherpa
Natascha Rosenberg

James

There he is, lurking by the fireplace, fully aware that a dark background shows off his fluffiness best.

He's knitted from some incredibly soft pure wool, and rather tougher pure cotton. Having grown up in the 70s (and having an admirably frugal mother) means that luxury yarn is more of a novelty to me than novelty yarn. The materials for this doll were a gift, and James himself a special order. It was a treat to knit him, and I'm finally ready to venture beyond superwash pure wool. Angora, mohair, and all those exhilarating things sold in tiny dye lots are beckoning.

Sunday printing

A large part of Sunday was spent printing. I sorted out the registration issue with the 2-colour flowers; it's still not perfectly registered, but good enough. I experimented with adding opaque medium to the paints for printing light colours on dark cloth; it made the paint lumpy and dry. It's an interesting effect, but not right for these particular prints. And I still haven't run out of options with the colours, blocks, and cloth that I have, so I'll stick to dark on light for a while.

Cringe...

Clutching a tissue in one hand and a camera in the other, I tried my best to look 'authorly'. (I know there's no such word; more evidence that I don't feel much like an author.)

This is not something I'd recommend if you're feeling icky and hope to improve your mood. It's for the back cover of the comic and only one will be used. I have no idea which is the most suitable, so I'll submit all three and someone else can decide.

That top line really did seem straight until right now! The whole week has been like this - if I'd taken two days off to lounge in bed I would probably have managed to do more work than I've ended up doing.

The good news is that my Ravelry invite arrived this morning, so even though I'd planned to do all sorts of wardrobey things this weekend, I'll be taking photos of wool instead!

A Peek

I'm working on the cover for the comic. Here's a detail of the front flap.

Audrey

Audrey is new in my shop today!

She's the first of a new generation of dolls - each one in this batch really will be one of a kind. I'm not writing the patterns down, or even taking notes as I make them. I'm simply enjoying making them up as I knit, picking colours without wondering whether I have enough, seeing where the shapes want to go.

In recognition of this, each one gets a name. And, not surprisingly, along with a name a small bit of a personality comes peeking out: Audrey's clearly a tomboy, quite smart, generally sweet, but unfortunately sometimes a bit sullen. And she likes to dance. Her name could have been Ethel, but for the long legs.

She's knitted in DK wool, on a circular needle, and all her bits are knitted on, to minimise seaming.

I did a repeat!

My first repeat pattern (still haven't found the iron). For the second colour I turned the block around. The fabric paint dries so fast you can pretty much print straight away.

I'm so excited about this I'm having trouble breathing - or is it just that I have 'flu?