tiny clicks.

More soon, this is just a start:



Knit XXV. mixed media. 14" x 11" [SOLD]

Hope you've all had a wonderful Christmas, fun holidays and if I don't post again soon, the most fabulous new year ever!

::Update :: December 31:: Tonight is Art Romp at the Warehouse Theater, and this painting will be on exhibit there! If you can't make it tonight, the art show goes on till January 27. Check out their web site for gallery hours.

more silver leaves.

This time I printed them on black Moleskine cahiers, and I love how they turned out.


[yes, they're in my shop]

Thanks to everyone who came to our open studio party! Don't forget, the Palace of Wonders show is tonight, should be fun!

working away.

Here is a peek at some work in progress:



That is my table of almost done pieces. There is a whole other table with more in the works.

Thanks to everyone who braved the cold and came out to the Booty Market on Saturday! It was so cold and I was so not prepared, so the next day I bought 2 wool coats. One of them is pea green, I love it! It totally matches my avatar.

december already.

I've been making some shirts...



And printing more Moleskine..



And getting ready for a bunch of shows in December!

Here is the list, and a handy little flyer with all of the info.

Craft Mutiny Booty Market
Dec 2 :: Saturday :: 2-7pm
Silver Spring :: email for address:
darnknit [at] gmail.com

Annual Open Studio
Christmas Party [in conjunction
with the Washington Glass School]
Dec 9 :: Saturday :: 2-6pm
3708 Wells Avenue :: Mt Rainier, MD

Palace of Wonders
Art and Craft Show
Dec 10 :: Sunday :: 7-11pm
1210 H Street NE :: DC

Downtown DC Holiday Market
Wednesdays and Thursdays:
Dec 13-14, 20-21 :: 12-7pm
Seventh & F Street NW :: DC
in front of the newly reopened
National Portrait Gallery

Black Cat Rock‘n’Shop
Dec 17 :: Sunday :: 8pm-12.30am
1811 14th Street NW :: DC

gocco printed bookplates.

On Saturday I hopped on the metro and went to the Book Arts Fair in Silver Spring, MD.

My favorite books there were mostly the ones that were silkscreened, etched, letterpressed with fun bindng work and occassional diecuts. And if they combined all of the above and had a little bowl of chocolates on the side, I stood and stared forever.

I was quite surprised to find so many books printed on inkjet printers. My impression was that those types of books were made using traditional hand printing methods like etching, woodcuts, silkscreening, etc. I only found one table with gocco printed stuff: postcards.

So overall the exhibit made me respect my inkjet printer a little more and I hope to put it to some good use soon. The last time I made a book on an inkjet was in college.




These bookplates were inspired by a little handwritten inscription in a children's book I have. When I find the camera I'll post a picture. There are six diffrent designs, and yes, all the bookplates are in my shop.

Thank you all for reading my blog even with my decrease in posting...December is going to be a big month with some fun local shows. I can't believe we're so close to the end of the year!

open studio sunday.

On Sunday Sean is hosting an Open Studio at our Mount Rainier space. Details, map and directions have been posted here. I'll be at a wedding so Sean will be hosting this alone, please come by!

Here is some of my latest work in progress:



Last Thursday the Art Monday crew got together again to make live artwork as the bands played. Yes, we were part of the entertainment. It was quite interesting to find that we had a crowd watching as we worked.




If you're going to Handmade Arcade in Pittsburg tomorrow, Woolarina will have some of my notebooks and three blind mice for sale at her table. Other Craft Mutineers will be there so check out their stuff too!

My online shop will be down this weekend as the whole etsy upgrade takes place, but it will be back up and runing again on Monday.

Have a great weekend, everybody! The weather was gorgeous in DC today, hope its as nice everywhere else too!

Mutineer.

Tomorrow night at Cheif Ike's in Adams Morgan the Art Monday crew will be doing collaborative artwork on stage (well, maybe off to the side) while the bands play. For this event, our name will be The Calavera Collective. Above is the awesome flyer that Kirk designed.

Speaking of mutiny, have I mentioned that I'm the newest member of Craft Mutiny? I haven't? Oops. Go check it out!

Happy Halloween!

I carved a pumpkin last weekend but its already rotten, so this pic of my Tonka Mighty Backhoe with two yet-to-be-scrabble-named works will have to do for today.

The art opening tonight at City Hall was quite fun. Sean's two pieces are right on the main floor, beside a piece by Margaret Boozer. It all looked great. Bravo to all the participating artists, DCCAH, and Sondra Arkin.

Alright, I'm off to watch a zombie movie.

I like Baltimore.

Last weekend Sean and I went back to Baltimore. We were 2 of the 70,000 people that made it out to watch our crazy friends launch a giant beehive into the harbour at Flugtag. Fun!

Next stop was Fells Point for some of the best pizza. We decided to walk around and check out the shops and found a Canadian ship parked in the harbour: the HMCS Toronto, a frigate, which is now my new favorite word.





On Sunday we took a little walk through the National Arboretum. This photo was taken in the Asian Garden on the way down to the Anacostia river. Sean posted a great picture of the Anacostia here



Oh, and last night we went to the 930 club to see the Decemberists. I love them. We had an awesome time. The couple we stood next to came up from North Carolina to see the show, and they're going to see them tonight as well. I wanted to do that too, hee.

Tomorrow night there is going to be a huge Art Opening and Halloween party at City Hall, and everyone is invited! If you live in the area, please come! The city bought artwork including two of Sean's sculptures. Check out the details here. Yay, Halloween!

silent action.

Knit IX detail. mixed media. 14" x 11"

I recently donated this piece to the Capitol Hill Arts Workshop Arts Ball & Silent Auction which is set to take place on November 3nd.



Thank you Pixie Purls for featuring my knit paintings in your latest podcast! Yes, some of my knit paintings are still available for sale in my shop.




Here are some photos I took from the roof of my house! It was scary climbing up there and but also very cool to be able to look out and see the capitol building, washington monument, and just all the crazy rooftops. I got to see the turrets and parapets up close, and now I get to use both of those awesome words in a sentence.

stickers.

So, the original plan was to make some 1" buttons from my illustrations, but then I couldn't decide on a few to go with. So instead, I printed up 12 as 1" round stickers! The images show all 12 in my favorite big, lined note/sketch/idea book.



Yes, I added them to the shop. Thank you to everyone who has bought stuff from there! And thank you USPS for shipping it all so fast! I would still like to have buttons made some day, and the 1" size is so appealing to me cause they're so darn tiny and cute.



What have I been up to? Last weekend I went to Art on the Avenue and had the fun of experiencing a street festival without the worries of being an exhibitor. The best part was that I got to see awesome vendors I already knew, and meet a few new ones too!

Also, I finally made it over to the Visionary Art Museum in Baltimore. Fun! I especially loved their gift shop. If you just want to check out the shop, let them know at the front desk and you won't be charged the $12 admission. Then come check out some DC museums for free! hehe. My favorite artist at the museum was Gayleen Aiken. "She started painting as a child and never stopped." Ooh, looks like theres a whole little movie about her!

Oh, and in a week, some friends are set to do this. yikes! If you make it out to the Baltimore harbor next Saturday, cheer for the Beehive Bomber!

craftiest bastard of the week.

Thank you Craft: for featuring my gocco printed leaf notebooks and ornaments! The notebooks are for sale in my shop, and I plan to add the ornaments later this week.

Thank you Tina Seamonster for featuring one of my (now sold!) paintings on the awesome new Craft Mutiny blog!

Thank you Dan Vera (founder of menknit.net), Erin and Lolly for coming by my booth at Crafty Bastards and writing about me + my work!

...and finally, thank you City Paper for selecting me as "Craftiest Bastard of the Week"



yay!

my second festival.

...was super fun!



Here I am setting up in the early early early morning (pre-coffee):



The weatherman threatened rain but the weather turned out gorgeous. Sean helped me set up (thank you!) and then took these pictures of my space during the day:






It was amazing to be surrounded by so many talented artists & crafters all day long. Part of me wishes I had more time to discover the booths, and watch the breakdancers, but it was great to have had such a busy day. I did manage to talk to some of my favorite vendors there: Debbie of 60 Bugs, Joy of Charming Vices, Paula of Woolarina, Tina of i like seamonters, Heidi of My Paper Crane, Kristina Bilonick (yes, one of the old art monday collaborators!), and Jenny of 8th Street Soap Kitchen.I even got to meet knitting bloggers Lolly and Jenna...and a ton of other people! It was all amazing.

Thank you everyone who came by, said hi, stayed to chat, and bought my stuff! I really love meeting new people, and its so exciting to hear comments like "I've seen this before"...and then I'm asked, "were you on ....'s site?" yay!

The Crafty Bastards crew [Liz, Kim, Sara and Karen] were the awesomest hosts ever. Unloading was painless, setting up was super easy, and they kept us updated on every detail you could imagine. wow. thank you!

I plan to update my shop [shoofly.etsy.com] with more items in the next few days. Please stop by again soon to check it out!

:: Crafty Bastards :: October 1st ::

Yes, October 1st is this coming Sunday! Only 6 days left till Crafty Bastards!

I'll be in booth #14, right here on the map:



Please stop by and say hi!

:: Sunday, October 1st 10am-5pm ::
Marie Learning Center :: Adams Morgan :: 18th St NW & Wyoming Ave

Click here to check out all the super awesome vendors and entertainment!

gocco ornaments.

Here is what the mystery ribbon post was about: gocco printed ornaments!



Gocco print in silver ink, same design as I printed on the Moleskine in this post. These can be used to decorate your space or for fancy giftwrap.



I am working on some other themed sets and hope to have them ready in time for Craft Bastards. Less than one week to go...

More fun stuff in the works from this past weekend, but I gotta take pictures first before I can say any more!

three blind mice.

see how they run!



They're running from the kitty cats, cause, um, these mice are actually kitty toys.

They were knit in mohair, from *my* pattern, seamless, stuffed with 100% organic catnip, and then given eyes (but sadly, no sight). I printed little gocco tags for them and sold them in sets of 3. I'll have more of these at Crafy Bastards in two Sundays!

Thanks mom for helping me knit the mice!

In other blog knitting news, Little Cotton Rabbits posted a free pattern for the cutest knit stockings ever. Click here to see it. And while you're there, make sure you check out her fairy cakes and rabbits!

shop update.

Knit XIV detail

I've updated my etsy shop with some of my connected paintings. Only catch is, I will have to take them off etsy on September 30 so I can show them at Crafty Bastards (October 1, yay!). If there is anything you like that I haven't posted there yet, please drop me a note: darnknit at gmail dot com. Thanks!

1895.

Thats when my house was born. 111 years ago. SA and I bought this house three years ago. Three seems so little compared to 111.

Here are some pics of the original tile in our foyer:




Yep, the tile is 111 years old. Thats pretty crazy old.

In art news, looks like artomatic won't happen this fall as planned, so they're now searching new sites for a 2007 show. Good luck!