Art, Bedford Gallery, Exhibit, PostSecret
In Arts, Life on April 25, 2009 at 3:19 pm
[Flickr/imahreeahh]
My cousin is a big fan of the site (so am I but it’s not on my RSS feed or nothing). After an hour of reading through all the postcards and envelopes, I must say that I felt rather depressed. Most of the ones on display are the really, really, REALLY sad ones…..
Still, I recommend everyone to go see this exhibit if it comes to your town. It’s very thought-provoking and touching.
I was surprised though that they didn’t have the coffee table books for sale, but I guess it’s because it was the last day of the exhibit. I sure do wish that I had known about it earlier so that I could have seen Frank Warren speak. Oh wells…

craft, crafting, knit, knitting, sweater
In Arts, Life, Projects on February 22, 2009 at 12:43 am

www.nataliedee.com
Ever since I got a cool book on knitting for beginners from my former roommate three Christmases ago, I have been trying to teach myself to knit. I commandeered my mom’s stash of needles, yarns and other miscellaneous knitting tools and started project after project, many of which remain incomplete. Why? Knitting is a hard craft to learn when you’ve been trained to crochet for most of your life. I won’t go into all the nitty-gritty details, but basically, I had such a hard time trying to maneuver two needles and made many mistakes along the way that I would give up, try again, give up and try again.
This week, I decided to try again. I am disassembling a crochet sweater that I tried to make for DL (see below for the back story on that fiasco), and am making a knit, sleeveless sweater for myself. This has become my commuter project. So far, so good. The right side of my brain is overjoyed that it’s being put to use, while the left side is enjoying the break. We’ll see how long this lasts…
Back-story on DL’s Sweater:
So last year, I decided to make a sweater for my boyfriend. It sounds sweet, but it was more of a sweat and tears project, if you ask me. After spending a few days on deciding whether to knit or crochet it (no doubt, knitting works much better for clothing; however, I just work faster with a crochet needle), I took the easy way out and choose crochet. This was the first of many critical mistakes in making this doomed project. Long story short, the almost-finished sweater weighs about 20lbs and the sleeves extend four inches form DL’s fingertips. After he tried it on the first time, I quickly came to terms with the fact that it looked horrible and that he would never wear it. So for about a year, it sat in my unfinished project pile. This is what I learned and what I hope to avoid this time around:
- Even if you find a pattern, don’t crochet sweaters. The finished product usually looks weird.
- Always check your gauge!
- Don’t knit during a heat wave. Your project will feel like blanket and you will be miserable.
- Measure as you go, not when the project is almost done!

Animation, Coraline, Movies, Museum
In Arts, Life, Movies on February 9, 2009 at 12:35 am
The following day, I went to the Cartoon Art Museum in San Francisco to look at the special Art of Coraline exhibit. Here’s a couple of interesting factoids about the movie:
- The gray sweater that Coraline wears (the one covered in glow in the dark stars) was hand knitted using tiny needles, that looked like they were the size of sewing needles.
- The cherry blossoms in the magic garden were made of popcorn.
If you haven’t seen this movie, you should. Just be advised, this is not a movie for young children, especially if they are easily frighten…..

craft, craft magazine, crafter, crafting, crafts, crafts: transforming traditional crafts, crochet, knitting, natto
In Arts, Projects on March 23, 2008 at 11:09 pm
This weekend at Barnes and Noble, I think that I may have found my new favorite magazine, Craft: Transforming Traditional Crafts (www.craftzine.com).

Introducing CRAFT: The first project-based magazine dedicated to the renaissance that is occurring within the world of crafts. Celebrating the DIY spirit, CRAFT’s goal is to unite, inspire, inform and entertain a growing community of highly imaginative and resourceful people who are transforming traditional art and crafts with unconventional, unexpected and even renegade techniques, materials and tools; people who undertake amazing crafting projects in their homes and communities.
If only this “renaissance” in the world of crafts had happened 15 years ago when I was at my peak as a crafter (i.e. I was in elementary school and had all the time in the world to devote myself to glue guns, crochet needles and sewing machines as school work wasn’t that important to me at the time and work was a thing for grown ups to stress about). I suppose I might be thinking too much into it but I can’t help but wonder if I had Project Runway and all the other “hip” design/crafting resources at my finger tips as a child, rather than needing to dig hard and deep for teachers and pattern books that didn’t look fudy-dudy, if I would have gone a different route, career-wise……
Okay, enough of that.
What’s interesting about this relatively new magazine (launched in late 2006) is the sheer range of topics that count as a “craft.” In additional to typical crochet, sewing and gluing projects, there is a recipe for natto (fermented soy beans) and instructions on brewing your own beer. I guess that this might count as cooking, but it sure ain’t the cupcakes and candy on Family Circle.
When I first saw this magazine sitting there on the magazine stand, I thought that it would be another typical hipster crafter magazine, with “edgy” craft designs (personally, just sticking a skull and cross bone in the knitting pattern doesn’t really add much if the basic item still looks kinda fudy-dudy). What I found instead was a more intelligent publication. It has features about different crafters and crafting styles in addition to some really cool and off beat projects. The magazine is short and stocky, that uses a thicker paper with rough texture…..a nice change of pace from more typical crafting magazines (i.e. It feels like it’s of higher quality).
Though I don’t think that I’ll every return to my former glory as a crafter, crochet has definitely made a come back into my life. I am making my first piece of clothing that is not a scarf, a sweater….wish me luck. This may take me many, many days. At the same time, I have also discovered amigurumi. See below:
While I haven’t read through the whole magazine, I think I am sold on purchasing a subscription.
