Category: Work in Progress

ReCouture 2020!

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I am so excited to share that I submitted a design for the ARTS Council of the Southern Finger Lakes’ fundraiser, “ReCouture“… and it was accepted!

ReCouture is an annual fashion show featuring designs made entirely from recycled materials. Last year’s show can be viewed on YouTube:

The 2020 show is on May 2, and I’ll be blogging my progress here with weekly posts on Thursdays.

I don’t want to share my sketch just yet, but I will share my mood board that I used to put together my proposal.

My design is focused on grocery store waste, especially the tension between non-biodegradable plastic waste (of which there is a LOT, even beyond shopping bags) and biodegradable food waste (of which there is also a LOT, which many people don’t even think about, perhaps because it is biodegradable), and the way these two categories of waste intermingle in our food system and in our wider ecological system.

The part I’m most excited (and admittedly nervous) about in my design is the material I’m using for my skirt– kombucha leather. Friends, I have officially become a kombucha farmer. I’ll share more about my process next week, but suffice it to say it involves brewing a LOT of kombucha, and growing a LOT of slimy SCOBYs. But it’s okay, it’s all in the name of art (and environmental awareness), and will hopefully turn into something like… this!

In addition to the kombucha leather skirt, I plan to create a train made of plastic bottles + produce bags, and a bodice made of coated (plasticized) cardboard cartons. Intrigued? Stay tuned for more, including a step-by-step of how I create my kombucha fabric!

Work in Progress Wednesday

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Welcome to Work In Progress (WIP) Wednesday! With this series, I’m trying to keep myself accountable and avoid expanding my UFO (unfinished object) collection by documenting what I have going on at any given point in time. So, here goes! This is what I’m working on this week:

1) Blanket for Baby #2: I started knitting this back in… November? October? Honestly I can’t remember. It’s this pattern from Purl Soho, knit up in slightly different colors. I made a blanket of my own design for my daughter when she was born, in a much, much smaller gauge, and it took me forever. Like… I finished it around when she turned two. Yes, it became a toddler blanket. When I started this one, I vowed it would be finished by the time the baby is born. Well, I’m happy to announce that baby #2 is still happily growing on the inside, and will ideally stay put for the next 2- 5 weeks! (I’m guessing he’s going to arrive a little early, but I’m also not placing any bets. Babies are unpredictable critters.)

Project Status: ALMOST done! Just need to weave in the ends (visible in this photo) and block it (maybe).

2) Epic Knits Yarn Quest 2018– The Steam Age Begins Knit-Along: It’s a bit of a knitting bonanza over here, isn’t it? Confession: I hate knitting scarves. They’re so boring! But when I saw a post about Epic Knits’ annual RPG knit-along, my little nerd heart was intrigued. If you’ve never played a RPG (think: Dungeons and Dragons), the idea is… well, kind of complicated, actually. You make up a character based on some guidelines. You’re given a story line. You roll one of several die, depending on the story line. Your characteristics determine how you “react” to the die rolls, and you end up choosing your own adventure. (Okay, that wasn’t *that* complicated.) In this knit-along, everyone ends up knitting a slightly different variation of the pattern, so no two scarves are alike.  The charts you knit are determined by your character and your die rolls.

This is a double-knit scarf, which was particularly interesting to me. It’s my first double-knit project, and only my second time attempting stranded colorwork! I’m honestly not a big tabletop RPG player (and my MMORPG days– that is, online gaming– are somewhat distant in the past), but I do enjoy the premise and camaraderie. And the knitting is a fun change of pace from the (relatively quick, mindless, and relaxing) baby blanket I’ve almost finished. And I love the yarn I bought. I’ll be purchasing some more for socks when this scarf is complete!

Project Status: Started, but sloooow going. I’m a week behind because I ordered my yarn late, and am only 1/2 way through the first of six charts for week one!

3) Simplicity 2317– Family PJs! This one has been hanging over my head for a while. I made it a (probably not realistic) New Year’s goal to complete all of the projects I’ve promised to make for my husband over the past 8 years (which is… a lot of projects) during 2018. This is one of them. I’ve had the fabric for a very long time, and there should be enough here to make a set of matching PJs for my daughter after I make his. I also just ordered some more (!) in a different pattern to make a snap-front flannel night shirt for myself for nighttime nursing when the baby arrives.

Project Status: Not actually started. But I finally got my husband’s current measurements and figured out what size to make him! And the fabric is washed. Cutting the pattern out tonight, and hopefully the fabric as well.