Poncho in the making

I have a poncho in the progress.  It is kid size:

I have started the hood even if it doesn't like one yet.  I have to put some buttoms too, at each side.  This will makes where the arms will stick out of the poncho.  I like the colours.  It takes two big balls of yarn (chunky cakes, triffle).

I intend to do some more, of various sizes.  I am happy to learning something new and challenging.  Of course, I am learning from this experience.  The next ones will be done a bit better and differently.  The pattern is the same all the way: Irish Moss, I think it is the name of the stitch.  Two row to give the same effect and a switch for the next two row.  Two row after two rows, inverting along the way.  Pretty easy to follow.  I may use that pattern for other projects like a blanket or a scarf.

Practical craft project and debunking a myth

There is something attractive in practical craft project.  Its those projects that end up with a object that is uselful and nothing is wasted.  Practicality is a big plus for me.  I found a video (https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=dAtdT3Ar-aU) that show how to do a cutlery pouch with a napkin that go along,  So, no more need to buy plactic ustensils.  I didn't have thought of that but it is a promising project to make.  I am not that good for sewing, even with a machine, so, it is out of my lead.  It look so easy on the video, even if it look rushed a little bit.  For sure, she seems to be very sure of herself.

It all comes up with finding the right idea for the right task, it seems.  I found another video on debunking the myth of the torutre artist (https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=rv5-O-jP2i8&list=WL&index=2600).  There is a link, at least, in my head.  Creating an useful items makes someone a creator and in extension, an artist.  Designing the ustensils pouch was thoughtful, yes, but it was also an idea.  I don't know if the person had thought a lot on the fabric and how to do it long.  No one saw the creative process but it may not have been hurtful or out of a painful situation.  It was probably more: «Oh, I don't want to buy a plastic fork.  I better find something to do the work.»

There is so much myths for various area of our lives.  Why carrying them when there isn't much truth to them?  The torture artist may want to be in that way but the process is her own.  Each artist have a way to work, being tortured or not.  The mind work for itself and not for the others.  I like to explore and try various things.  There was time that I have stumble on something while trying something new.  Other times, it was more while trying to find a solution to a problem during creation.  Creating can hurt because turning an idea to a solid product can be hard.  This is where the tortured artist myth may have risen.  Well, it is my theory.  It may be part of a bigger whole but now, it is where I am at.  An idea can evolve throught time or it can be the same.  It is just a matter of the person being ready to create.

There are period of time in a life.

I am taking a leap into something unknown.  Usually, I don't like having a tag on me.  I remember, in high school, about the various clans: the popular ones, the preppies ones, the sports ones, the geeks ones.  I was the outsider.  A rock solid outsider.  Have been in that category for years.  Once, almost at the end of my high school, there was a girl, always dressed up in black.  She didn't have any make up.  No elaborate goth clothing or mindset.

Once, we were a few students with her.  She started to speak about goths.  She said there were goth that were just goth for a time period, in their teenage years.  There were also more permanent goth.  There was the category of goth that will never recognize they are goth, not even by how they clothes themselves.  She pointed at me and said I was in that category.  I was unhappy by that.  I hate being put in a category.

Since then, I recognize she may have been partly right but not totally.  I didn't made any conscious choice on being in the goth world.  I like a few things that could be considered goth: The Addams Family,  old litterature like Anne Ratcliffe books, I like songs like Bauhaus's Bella Lugosi's death.  That song is consider goth, I think.  But the theme can't be more gothic than anything else.  Bella Lugosi is the first actor, on the movie screen, that portrait Dracula, the one from the book, well, the first I know of.  Being death as he was famous for his Dracula role is a bit ambiguous.  Physical death as he live on the silver screen.  I consider that as a eternal life without the body and in cultural archetype is a way to stay alive.  In a way, it is gothic.

I am not totally comfortable with the tag of being gothic.  I may have been perceived as gothic without admitting it to that girl.  But I think it wasn't just that.  She didn't had access deep into my soul.  She didn't knew me as far as I lived within myself.  She saw a part of me for a certain period of time and get her own conclusion from her point of view.  Hard to put words on that at that time.  Now, with my baggage of experience, I can see what she saw in me.  It is just not totally wrong, it is not totally true.  So, now, I feel a bit wiser and felt it was time to dig a more deeper.  I also stumbled on some information on Asperger and Autism.  I know, Asperger is no longer called Asperger.  It had been swept into the Autism umbrella.  It is partly why I feel that way about being put a tag on me.  It can change with time, not just because of studies made by scientists.  Words can change a bit with time.  It can have some more spin to it.  As goth originate in the punk movement.

So, getting tested for the vast spectrum of Autism is a step into the unknow.  Of course, there is a chance that I will have a new tag.  I will not like it.  It will pass better as being a new mask to put on to describe me.  It will be another part of me that will explain the past, the present and the future.  It will help me understood why I am the way I am.  It will be as the word goth that had been put on me by that girl in high school.  If I see this girl again, I will be able to say to her: "You put a label on me that many years ago.  You may be partly right.  But I am not just that.  I also have received another label that explain as much as what you saw in me.  There are words that may overlap in their meanings."

Because of that incident, I never put label on people.  What do we know on how people feel, deep inside.  There are part of ourselves that never had chances to show up to the world.  I have my fascination with my inspiration.  I also wonder how my mind work.  Even if I hate having tags on me, sometimes, there is a necessity to have words to describe what we are.  It is time to name my beast to shed some light on my past, so I can move forward.  Moving forward with new knowledge on myself may help me avoid some painful experiences.

I think it is akin of embarking in any creative process.  There is always a part of the unknown.  The unknown is always the most frightening part.

A discovery: fused bead

I just discovered fused bead.  Well, I decided to give it a try.  I found one that was with no fusing (well ironing).  It was with spraying some water on the beads and letting it dry for an hour.  I didn't took any photo and maybe I should have.  On the other hand, there was not much choice of models in the store.  It is a bit of a shame because it is less demanding than the ironing version.

For the ironing version, I have made a spider.  Again, I forgot to take a photo.  But the result was very satifying.  It is just the ironing that I had doubts.  I wasn't sure if I ironed enough.  I wasn't sure if I was doing it right.  It was not that easy to iron as explained in the instruction.  It was a bit sticky.  Well, it was my impression.  Maybe I set up my iron too hot?  I put it on the max setting.  The instructions weren't that detailed on the setup for the iron.    Maybe I should look up at the website of the compagny (https://www.perler.com/)  I will have to explore the website a bit more.  For what I can quickly see, there are a way lot more on the website than in the store.

I have taken a few more items, here are they:

I think I will have much fun doing Wonder Woman.  It is an extensive project but the end result will be stunning.  The bucked of beads will be fun in many ways.  There is projects in it.  I hope too to have some place to experiment along the way.

Beginning better at heatgears

I think I like this tuque, well, this pattern of tuque.  It is long and there are nice colours.  The pompom is already made.  It was really easy to put the pompom on the rest.  It was quickly done.  I have liked doing this one. 

The instructions were not that hard to follow.  The main trick was to go row by row, one at a time.  Not that long ago, I was intimidated by knitting instructions.  All those abreviations is like a foreign language.   The solution is to having a Rossetta Stone to know how to decode all abreviations.  There are some that are rarer than others, it seems.  Well, now, I feel enough confident to do more projects.  It is sure that there will be some part of a written pattern that will be an unknown.  With the right kind of assistance, I am confident to go over it.

Next fiber craft to get more confidence: crochet.  I know how to do a chain of mail and that's it.  I think it is the outmost basic thing to do in crochet.

How long will it last?

I must admit I am in a period of creation.  It is not in jewelry, it is not in writing, no fimo.  It is in the fiber arts, especially in knitting.  I also have a few projects that I want to do with crochet.  So, my creativity lead me in that way right now.  From past experience, I can guess it will be an intense period of activity in knitting and crochet before I ride another creative wave.

It is good, it is bad but at the end, I follow the lead.  I am not always happy by the mono burst of creation I can have.  There are time where I want a more varied projects.  Other times, I am happy concentrating on one type of project.  Obsession may have a thing to say in all that mono creation frenzy.  It is a permission to push some projects further on and even finish some.  Moods is finicky, sometimes.

So, I wonder how long this period will last.  Will it be short, will it be longer?  Will it be a definite period of time, a window on my life where I met some people and end up going our separate way later on?  It is a great time but at the same time, sad.  I feel that I will have to eventually turn to new horizon, to another period of life with a set of new people and other projects.  Transition is not easy for me.  So, I will ride the wave the best I can and see how far it will go.

Quick interesting knit

Well, didn't needed the class on knitting to makes those two projects.
Leg Warmers:

Fingerless gloves:

The finderless gloves was done in a day.  It was quick to make.  Now, I can do cool knitting all by myself.  I still have a place to go when I have questions.  Next project is a bigger one: a poncho and there will be questions to be asked.

Scarf making

Taking baby step for instruction and it give that kind of result:

It is a long one.  5 patters repeated 4 times.  It is done in 2 halves.  I think that I miscalculated one half because the other one was longer.  I got out to knit to fill the shorter one.  It doesn't show on the photo.  when I will wear it, I will be a bit careful not to show the patching I made.  I can have the excuse that it is handmade.  It just bug me.  I am tempted to try it again, a try to get it right.  The second times seems to improve things, usually.  Well, it is really true that practice makes perfect. 

That scarf is my first attempt to follow a pattern.  Could have been worse.  It was just taking some time to make.  What I dislike the most: putting the two halves together and tucking the loose ends in.    Beside that, once the pattern is understood, it is easy to knit it.

Finding a small interesting small space

I found this space.  It look a bit unusual.  Not much can be made of that.  It can be used as a store room.  Right now, it look pretty empty.  There are some electrical boxes there too.  They are not visible from this view.  I don't know what the two electrical boxes are for, even if it is discreet:

I like that kind of space.  It is intimate and different.  I don't have any, so this is why I am nosy when I go elsewhere.

Practice and tweaking: Getting better

I have done two more knitted hat and I think I find that my last try is  the best one.
Here is my second try, even if it is a short hat:

Here the last try that I made.  I had a good look at the instruction too and I made a few ajustment to fit better:

I still have to work on making pompom but I am on the right track.  For instruction, I always felt affraid and intimated by the instruction.  All the abreviation was really terrifying me.  I feel confident, now, in short instruction and short project.  I just have to take the instruction by chunk, focusing on the part I am doing.

Now, I may switch to getting some confidence for crochet.  After the first class of kitting/crochet that I took, I realized I was on my own with crochet because the teacher is right handed and I am left-handed.  It didn't worked well in the class, so, I am turning to videos.  I also realised, in class, that I knew the basic.  It just that I didn't knew the words about it.  So, maybe I will be good on my own.  The remaining classes will be for questions and questions on written pattern.

Two latch hook kit done and a funny thing

I have done two latch hook kit.  They are complete.  They aren't that big and it was quickly done:

What I find funny is there was a green strand that was longer than the other.  I have put it on the frog anyway.  Could be put as a mutation, as a joke.  Or I can go and cut the exceeding part.  I have not centered the horse above.  I don't know if the basic weave is like that in all kit.  I didn't want to bother to center it and get an headache doing it.  I cound the right strands for each colour as I am doing the pattern but I also look for the square on the basic weave to guide me too.  It is seen too on the pattern guide, so, it is of a great help.   I haven't decided yet to purchase another like the horse behind the fence to confirm my impression.  I don't have decided if I will do it and if it is worthwile.

I have a mix up! Big Fail

I have started an big kit of latch hook, a horse.  I ended to mix up two colours, so I have one colour that I will not have enough of.
Here are the two colours that I swapped:

I have purchased a yarn that will replace the one that I will be missing shortly.  It is not the exact colour but I think it will be an arduous search to find the exact one.

Here what I have made until now:

Here is the pattern for the horse:

 I have bought another kit of the same with the intention of doing it again but doing it right.

DYI headgear and projected knitting/crochet classes

I took a class on making a bonnet.  I didn't had time to finish it in the class but I decided to experiment with what I have started.  Here is the end result, front and back:

It is a first try and it show.  I may not do it that way again.   I have register myself for a class of knitting/crochet.  I know the knitting part most. I know all the basis.  For crochet, I know how to do chains and that's pretty all.  I can knit and do blankets, mainly. 

The hat above was a first try and an experiment.  Well, even if not perfect, it put some confidence on the future.  I know I will get better.  Next class is sunday, so, I may finish the knitted hat and it will look as it was intended.

I think I will ask a lot of questions on pattern.  For crochet, I will see if I can make something by the end of the class or getthing started.  I want to get mot of that experience.

Drawing class

So, I found that a place where I can take some class.  I have started to take drawing classes.  Here are the exercices I have done.  Nothing extraordinary but a start:

Of course, the box is the shape that gives me the most trouble.  I am working on that.  I'll see what will come out of that.  There isn't any classes on aerographe but maybe I will try that on my onw with more confidence.