Tag Archives: cey & i

cey & i: exactly

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17 days until the photo shoot for ‘artistic differences’.

feels like yesterday that susan and i first sat in her office

and discussed ideas and possibilities.

still, 17 days until

my end of things is done.

then the cey staff tech editors, layout and various other people

have the ball in their court.

here’s the thing.

i’m still swatching for the last piece

of the collection.  back at that again tonight.

IMG_6318cropand it’s not that i couldn’t have knit the full piece

about 10 different times over.

i could have,

and it would have been 10 different variations on a theme.

but, it’s not quite what’s in my head yet.

this is why

i often refer to myself as a ‘hack’.

i know i have skills, experience, and all kinds of excitement for the process.

what i don’t always have is the ability to mold my fingers

and the yarns they’re holding

into the picture in my head the first time out of the gate.

or the second, or the third.

so when i say ‘hack’, i mean not intuitively able

to leap from idea to final design in a single bound.

maybe no-one can.

some people sure do make it look

just about easy, though.

my friend pam send this quote to me sometime before i woke up this morning:

being a hackperfect.

this is exactly what i mean when i label myself a ‘hack’.

it is often one mistake,

one detour or another, that

pulls any given design of mine into a place

where it can hold its own as an original.

this is mostly likely why i always feel more like a happy kid

whose crayon drawing was hung on the fridge

by an adoring parent who sees the effort as beauty

rather than a grown-up holding her own as a ‘knitwear designer.

i admit that every time i write

‘knitwear designer’

as profession on a form, i giggle a little.

so now you know.

‘original’ from 24:13 of 2nd chronicles.

(this is an ongoing series of posts chronicling

the process of my yet to be released collaboration with classic elite yarns.

to search, all post titles will include ‘cey & i:‘ and be tagged with ‘artistic differences‘.)

cey & i: the same, but not really

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so far, i’ve posted sneak peeks of the knitting for

and ‘look what i found’ pics of the clothing for

my upcoming collection ‘artistic differences’.

i admit that i’m a little torn

about what more

i want to say, and what i what to remain a surprise.

in the meantime,

while i’m still mulling over where i want

to draw the line,

i do feel good about saying

that i saw this post about 10 bloggers all wearingDaybook-11the same exact thermal shirt (in a few different colors).

when you scroll down the pics,

you can strongly see

how each different blogger’s personality

and their individual personal styles

actually change a bit how the thermal looks.

my collection is going to be ‘a lot like that’,

and a lot ‘not a bit like that at all’.  honest.

more vague info…

coming soon.

photo from sydney.

‘looks’ taken from 1: 24 of james.

 

cey & i: _ + _ = ?

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when i want to take

something out of my head

and have it look in real life what

i saw in my mind’s eye, i turn to clearance rack

sweatshirt fabric and packing tape.

true.

i know people who use paper,

but i have trouble looking past the lack of drape involved

plus, i want to move it all around and try it on and paper tends to want

nothing to do with me after that.

big scissors are my friend for cutting and trimming, ditching and recutting…IMG_5804crop…until the mock-up is close enough

meaning with my eyes squint shut a little i can

pretend i’m looking at the real thing.

it does take a little suspension of disbelive, but you know what i mean.

so last night i took over the kitchen island, and begun.

only took me 4 different new shapes

to get to the one that behaved like i wanted it to.

tonight, the math begins.

cey & i: the art of enthusiasm

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i have met lots of people

in all different artistic fields who are talented,

whose skills really set them apart from the rest of the pack.

the most memorable of those,

the ones who

truly move

me, are

the people who possess both mad skills

and remain excited about what they do

day after day after day, no matter what the circumstances.

friday’s ‘theater of the mind’ shoot was my first ever,

but everyone else there, save one model, had wrapped up a previous shoot

late in the afternoon of the day before.

this was not new to them

and they’d just done it yesterday,

but i would never have known.

that they knew their stuff was obvious

(pros without a doubt),

but the level of creative energy was palpable, too.

that’s what caught my attention.

second day shooting, pouring rain, creative energy still high.

these are great people to work with.

IMG_5408crop

oh how i enjoyed listening

to the ongoing banter, to the decisions being made,

and to the flow of warm, interesting conversation

that kept the models engaged

coming from the photographer as he nearly seamlessly

captured each frame exactly as he imagined it

one after the next after yet another.

thanks to cey and the full crew for allowing me

to be a ‘fly on the wall’.

i loved it!

‘listening’ taken from 18:13 of proverbs.

(this is an ongoing series of posts chronicling

the process of my yet to be released collaboration with classic elite yarns.

to search, all post titles will include ‘cey & i:‘ and be tagged with ‘artistic differences‘.)

cey & i: mirage

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radio deejays

sit alone in small rooms

and create what sounds like a music filled party on-air.

we tune in to join in on their fun.

they call it the ‘theater of the mind’.

three days ago, i drove

(windows rolled

as far down as the rain would allow and music blaring-

to give you a good picture of my frame of mind)

about an hour north of here to a classic elite photo shoot.

i had never before been to a professional shoot.

i had no idea what to expect.

i arrived to find

things already in motion

as a nondescript corner of the yarn company’s warehouse

was being morphed into a pleasing backdrop for

perfectly party ready cold weather knits.

now, all of us knew full well

that it was just dangling strings of little twinkling lights,

huge rolls of hanging paper, and pretty girls dressed in hand knits

but the illusion worked its wiles on us as well.

IMG_5410crop satwe talked of garden parties floating in

citronella candles, rascally gnomes, and sparkling drinks.

we talked of possible menus and childhood memories, stopping now and again

to ooh and ahh over the cut of a cardi or the drape of a wrap.

the dark gloom of the rain outside,

with its huge drops pelting down

on the metal truck dock delivery doors,

seemed ever so far away as the models spun and the camera shutter

captured the nuances of this carefully crafted diversion.

do you know how many things can be done

with hanging lights, willing models and a really good photographer?

i started to keep track, but lost count shortly after lunch.

IMG_5412cropthe buzz

of all that creativity

emanating from

six people working

very closely together

in that one made-over corner

distracted me, but

more on that…

tomorrow.

‘rain’ taken from 26:4 of leviticus.

(this is an ongoing series of posts chronicling

the process of my yet to be released collaboration with classic elite yarns.

to search, all post titles will include ‘cey & i:‘ and be tagged with ‘artistic differences‘.)

cey & i: out of reach

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today, the knitting mocks me.

i can reach out and touch it, but the

actual knitting of it is shoved back hour by hour

because i am nearly buried under a mountain of forms.

camp physicals and permission slips and end of the year teacher notes,

state renewals and tax forms and more camp applications.

never have i felt quite so strongly as i do today

that what i need most as a mother of 4

and a self-employed designer

is a good secretary.

for the record,

my experience and job skills,

would not qualify me for the job.  ha.

and irregardless pages that remain undone, the knitting hour is almost upon us.

IMG_5380truth is, the paperwork will be just as important tomorrow

as it feels right now.  also, if i have to fill out one more ’emergency contact’

section before i get a good night’s sleep

the good secretaries at the camps

are likely to scratch their heads a bit when

they read that my kids have ‘people’ like mickey mouse,

batman and wonder woman for emergency contacts.

where, by the way, is wonder woman these days?

i sure could use her help…

‘tomorrow’ taken from 3:28 of proverbs.

(this is an ongoing series of posts chronicling

the process of my yet to be released collaboration with classic elite yarns.

to search, all post titles will include ‘cey & i:‘ and be tagged with ‘artistic differences‘.)

cey & i: decoding

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i have this swatch.

it looks very simple,

but i knit it almost two years ago

and i have absolutely no idea what the stitches are.

i’ve stared at it until my eyes get blurry.

i’ve written down every possible stitch combo that i can think of.

at this point i’ve reknit them all and nothing comes close.

now, it’s an easy stitch pattern.  i know that it is.

the result is a very simple textural-ness

that really appeals to me.

fed up, i’d almost

decided to throw the little swatch away

as seeing it everyday on my bulletin board

and not being able to conquer it was really dragging me down.

then yesterday morning,

i took a little ride with my friend wendy.

we talked about everything (like we always do)

and i finally got round to a little vent about the ‘swatch with no name’.

IMG_5372satwithout missing a beat, she (focused on driving at the time) said,

“can’t you just undo the bind off and gently pull the stitches out

 to see what they were in the first place?”

can’t i just undo…?

hey, why didn’t i think of that?!?

it took me all of five minutes this afternoon to unbind

a few rows and figure out the stitches that have been so eluding me for weeks.

thanks, wendy,

for letting me consistently

bum rides to in the loop sit ‘n’ knits

and especially this week, thank you for seeing through my confusion

to the straightforward answer

that has been right in front of me all along.

‘name’ taken from 1:3 of song of songs.

(this is an ongoing series of posts chronicling

the process of my yet to be released collaboration with classic elite yarns.

to search, all post titles will include ‘cey & i:‘ and be tagged with ‘artistic differences‘.)

cey & i: new colors in the mix

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i just finished working with

a beautiful tweedy yarn and i thought,

“i love the vibe of this.  why didn’t i think to include some things that were

softer and tweedier in the upcoming collection?”

so, as is my prerogative as both a woman and an artist,

i proceeded to change my mind…

7ef426673050a557eacd6344248513afand staying true to their easy to work with nature,

classic elite yarns quickly sent the new colors

right to my back door.

majestic tweed and inca alpaca are going to make for

fun new swatching tonight.

thanks, cey.

‘mind’ taken from 46:8 of isaiah.