March 11, 2013

New persona

First, I wanted to make it to St. Valentine's Day.
Next, I set the due day to March the 1st.
I missed both, but now, at last.  On my 44th birthday.

I made myself a knitting (and hopefully, crochet) designer.
I can't say "professional" because I'm not paid.  I just set up a website and a blog.  When I said "my new office is still under construction", the construction was being made by none else by myself, and only on the cyber space.

Atelier PawPrint
https://sites.google.com/site/atelierpawprint/

and its blog, PawPrint on the floor
http://atelier-pawprint.blogspot.jp/

It's my place as an artist-kind-of-persona.
And, I'll go bilingual, writing every post, every pattern both in English and Japanese.
I'm not going to teach anything.  So, no "basics" or "101s".  There are so many wonderful books and teachers in the fiber world that I guess I don't need to set a classroom myself.

Until now, I have been posting occasional "not by a pattern" projects here, but I'll make them into words and post them on PawPrint website from now on.  I will not abandon this blog, nor am thinking of making a fortune as a designer. I am not a "creative" person in my honest opinion, but a "make-doer".  I am not a person of originality, but of small ideas. I think original designs should be traded at proper prices, but my ideas are none like that.  At least for now.  That's why I'm not selling anything on PawPrint website but asking donations if any of the visitors want to pay for my works.  Not asking for money is an excuse, too, of not making them in a perfect package for downloading and all.  (It's a terrible pdf now, but this is the best I could make for now.)   I'll learn more to make them better, of course, as soon as possible.

Here, I'm a knitter who has too much stash and too much "other stuff".
There, I'll be an artist who can't stop expressing herself through fiber-ish materials.
I hope having these two places does me good.

PS. I noticed I have written many "not"s above.  What do I want to deny?

redos

On last post, I wrote about my daughter's grown-out-in-length jeans.  We were glad my friend gave me a clear view to my somewhat vague idea about adding a fancy tape on the post-hem line (Thanks, Janet!) and talked a bit about designs, and...
hems
Here.  Little crochet ribbons and a heart.  From the books I bought for exactly a project like this.
Books;

Edging & Braid Variation 106 (エジングとブレード かぎ針で編む、とびきりかわいいデザイン106

Crochet Heart Pattern はじめてのかぎ針あみ ハートパターン100 
(Link to Ravelry pages.)
Heart pattern is #64 Heart Doily by Atsuko Takeda (link also to Ravelry page).

The air here is warming up these days.  One more stretch for these plain jeans.

I am finding more and more comfortable myself doing these "fancy mending" kind of work.  I knew I have an old-time set of mind, but these days, more and more so.  My age?

February 18, 2013

Change, and Forward

OK.  No excuse for my neglect for this blog.  It was not so bad as I was afraid, a little less than three months hiatus, but nonetheless.  Just I deeply regret about it.
(See my choice of words is probably being influenced by the book I'm listening on Audible right now? It's New Spring, the prequel of the Wheel of Time novels by Robert Jordan.  And you see what I have finished listening before that?  Yes, Mistborn trilogy and the sequel, by Brandon Sanderson.  My life is simple enough.)

It occurred to me this time of last year, too.  There, I find a problem, small but recognizable situation which requires some attention.

I need to change, re-organize rather, the way I spend my time on the internet.  Not only on the internet, I know.  The way I spend my time, period.

These 4 week or so, I've been busy taking care of the end-of-the-term paperworks at my teaching job and long ignored houseworks, like choosing and installing a sofa to our living room.  And at the same time, been working on starting my new project as, kind of, a designer.  It's not that I'm hoping to make money as an artist or a designer anytime soon, but I think it's about time to give  my inner artist a place to express herself.

It's time, to start.
To go forward.

But this blog is my home.  I'm not closing it nor abandoning it.
Mom just need to go out for a work some time, you know.

And the workplace is still under construction. I hope I can invite you all to my new office (blush) soon.

At home now? I'm working on my daughter's jeans.
How?

She outgrew the hems I made. Today, I found out that I just can't roll those out and let her wear. It's just too obvious. "If it just can't be hidden, show it." is the basic strategy for a flaw. Decorative patches are the way to go. How?