transformations

As is probably pretty common, the seasons are changing and I am sick again - ugh! So far, I'm the only one to be struck down, so hopefully it will stay that way...

One of the many thrills I get from being a mother is watching from the sidelines as Brynne's creative mind continues to develop. A huge breakthrough came a few months ago when she started sketching faces - the first step in drawing something that looks like what is being depicted. I was thrilled and shared the news with our family immediately. I'm not sure what it is about her faces, but I find them to be incredibly fascinating. Here is one she brought home with her today:

and here are several (studies?!?) that she drew a few weeks ago:

I love these so much that I am actually considering choosing a favorite to be a tattoo. It would be my first tattoo, but I think of all the imagery out there, I will never tire of these early works of her art.

More mundane transformations are happening around here as well... I had long been thinking about recycling yarn from thrifted sweaters to use for my knitting and crocheting, but I had been so caught up in learning to knit that I hadn't yet felt brave enough to tackle the deconstruction of a knitted garment. Well, I've now unraveled my first sweater! Here is the before:

a pretty boring short sleeve sweater knitted from a beautiful pink ribbon yarn...

and here's the after... loads of yarn that I can now repurpose for my own creations! Once I got the hang of finding the yarn ends, the unraveling was very simple, if a bit time consuming. I've since purchased a few more sweaters to unravel, and the sweater aisle has now been added to my regular thrift store route. I look for colors I like, fibers that are particularly wonderful/soft, variegated or unusual yarns, etc. I try to find sweaters in large sizes (the one above was a 2XL) so that I have plenty of flexibility to make what I want out of the yarn. The best part? Most sweaters at my thrift store can be had for $6 or less - even if they are made of merino, alpaca, or other super nice fibers. You also don't have to worry about holes or stains on the garment... just cut those areas from your yarn as you unravel! My one word of caution: be sure to pay attention to the gauge of the yarn so that you don't end up with something that you don't really want to work with - although I find beautiful cashmere sweaters at the thrift store, they are usually in very fine gauges. I'm personally not quite ready to work in such a fine gauge!

Speaking of yarn and knitting, I'm thrilled to be going to the Maker Faire this weekend, and I've signed up for Jess Hutch's workshop! My family has been generous enough to watch the munchkin, so Jerry and I will have an incredibly rare day to ourselves at the Faire and Bazaar Bizarre. Anyone else going? I'll try to take loads of photos to share!

Comments

[Erika]

Wow! Those little face sketches really rock! I'd love a shirt with them!

How old is Brynne?? When my daughter, Emm first started to draw representationally I was thrilled, too. I remember one of her first attempts at life drawing when she drew me and would look up from her paper to say,"Let me see your leg," or "Let me see your chin." Then, return to paper to produce said body part. It was great!

[michelle]

My friend Bethany from Bitter Betty will be there as a vendor. If you see her, say hi for me. I'll be at home hoping for early labor. :)

[Passions & Distractions]

Cute! It looks like she was trying different emotions! That is a whole lot of yarn from one sweater. Impressive! I can't wait to see what you knit!

[gkgirl]

what a cool idea for a tattoo!
heehee

and i so want to do the same thing
regarding the recycled knits...

:)

[Heather]

I totally wish I was going to the Maker Fair! It's so close! In fact, you'll probably drive right by my house in Prunetucky on your way up. It's my daughters birthday this weekend, though, and I'll have a house full of dear friends over to visit and celebrate, so I guess it won't be all bad that I'm not at the Fair.

I'll just have to wait and read about it here when you get back!

[ani]

i love kid art too! i've thought about the same thing re: tattoos.

i'm so jealous! Jess Hutch workshop?! Awesome! have fun...

hope you are feeling better soon.

[molly]

I was just looking at my daughter's drawings this morning having the same proud feelings. I love seeing the transformation. Now she is beginning to draw clothes on people, which I love. the problem is that she's always giving her drawings away to friends/family. I'm going to have to start sneaking photocopies or something!
I love your recycled yarn. what type of yarn is it? For my first recycling I tried with a beautiful cotton sweater, but i found that the yarn became untwisted as I unravelled it from the sweater. I'm dying to try this again, though with a better wool.