making.stuff. (broken.stuff.)
i mentioned some time ago i was taking a class at the san francisco art institute, on screen printing. what fun that is! it brings back fun and fond memories my undergrad days, when i took many a printmaking course toward the completion of my art degree.
i am planning on making my own fabrics, perchance. this quick and dirty test print may be the beginnings of a fabric print. for now it’s just play. ideas abound…there are so many possibilities with this process.
the granny square blanket is coming along. i’ve decided to use goldenrod/mustard yellow to border each square and join the blanket. it is sort of my homage to the yellow woolen granny square blanket i thrifted a few months back (and dearly love).
the blanket will be 12 squares by 12 squares. i have the center portion of the squares finished, all 144 of them, plus a few extra, for testing purposes. i used up almost all the lamb’s pride bulky yarn i had hoarded for years…the amount resident in my stash, as i have mentioned numerous times before, was pretty sick. i need to get more of the goldenrod/mustard yellow yarn to finish the blanket, about 14 more skeins worth. i’m telling you: after this blankie’s done, i am never using lamb’s pride bulky ever again. not because it’s a bad yarn or anything, but because i am sick of looking at it. i must use other yarns. i must buy enough for an actual garment, instead of one skein here and there.
a question for you yarn wrangers: do you ever find yourself buying the same yarn over and over again? out of habit? compulsion? insanity? something else? or do you spread the love and just buy all sorts of stuff?
so much work got done on the granny square blanket this past week because…my beloved iron broke. the third one of this type (a rowenta continuous steam iron with a big old water tank) that’s bit the dust in the past 7 or so years. i get several years of REALLY HARD USE out of them, and then they just bite it.
the iron is a necessary tool in my fashion design, craft and artmaking practices…so when one dies, it’s a major thing! i use it for EVERYTHING: ironing paper, ironing my clothes, pressing fabric, pressing seams, everything, everything, everything. another one is on the way, but…is not here yet.
what is with products these days? everything is built for eventual and swift entropy. planned obsolescence. why can’t anything last? why are companies so greedy that they have to make something crappily with cheap materials so we’ll dish out more cash at a regular pace to line their pockets with profit? what ever happened to ethically making a product so it lasts at least several years with good care and good use? or is everything just destined to break down? i know it will eventually, but sometimes it seems like manufacturers hasten the process with their chosen materials used in said products or in the way they are constructed.
do you like that things break down? would you rather have them last? do you mind that things are becoming increasingly disposable? fashion, home products, and everything else? where does all this disposed of stuff go?
June 25 2007 | Posted in creative dabblings., yarn insanity.
June 25 2007 at 1:14 pm
JeannineI hate that things are becoming more quickly disposable! Sometimes I think the rat race we all function in ( or at least attempt to fucntion in) is sucking the soul out of creating. . . somehow life became about faster and MORE. . . it’s in response to THAT warp speed that I create and make at my own speed.
June 25 2007 at 1:16 pm
AarikaI love the fabric! How lucky are you to know how to make your own fabric?!
And the granny squares are too cute, I’ve actually wanted a sweater made out of those ever since I saw a Gallagher concert in the 80’s in which he wore one! :]
June 25 2007 at 1:30 pm
triciaaarika: the diamond print is not fabric yet…but might be eventually!
June 25 2007 at 1:32 pm
alexisThere’s actually a book about this disposable phenomena called “Made to break” by Giles Slade. I just read a few chapters, but it’s about capitalism and the rise of disposable or “made to break” products.
June 25 2007 at 1:34 pm
JosiI usually have a smattering of yarn brands around, but I love Knit Picks Elegance so much that I always have a basket of that on hand, too. (I wish they would expand their color selection of that yarn… it’s SOOO yummy, and the perfect weight for a lot of crochet.)
June 25 2007 at 1:49 pm
jennifertricia- do you have any roughly 5×5 inch fabric pieces that you might be willing to part with? i’m planning a quilt and want to use as many recycled fabric pieces as possible. i figured you might have something, and therefore might be interested in unloading some. let me know! jenamoured at gmail.com
June 25 2007 at 3:17 pm
MNot only does everything break after a few years, nothing looks like it was MEANT to last either. Vintage irons and fans and radios and all those other things used to be so well-designed and aesthetically pleasing, and now everything is made of gray plastic. When I think about how everyday objects like appliances used to not only last, but look like this: http://www.makezine.com/blog/3862-3.jpg and now look like this: http://www.germes-online.com/direct/dbimage/50246870/Portable_CD_Players.jpg. it’s pretty depressing. Quite a legacy we are leaving!
June 25 2007 at 3:17 pm
ErinOoh, that’s a fabulous shade of yellow, and it looks especially good with the 2 purples. I’m a bit of a yarn gourmand, I want to try a little bit of everything and then cleanse the palette with a good standard.
That diamond print reminds me of oversized graphic bling in 50s and 60s advertising and cartoons.
June 25 2007 at 10:53 pm
VirginiaYes, it seems everything is shoddily made these days. I was just thinking that the other day when I was digging out my box fans. I have one I bought 15 years ago for $20 that still works like a charm. I have another that I bought for the same price about five years ago and it is terrible. One of the feet fell off so it rocks back and forth, and it makes so much noise you can’t hear yourself think. And in the meantime the old one just keeps humming on.
June 26 2007 at 6:08 pm
diI hate the fact that today’s manufacturing is based around things having a limited life-span, being impossible to repair (or more expensive ro repair than buying something new), and producing “bigger”/”better” things that you “must” have. I try to be very selective when I am buying something new- being careful about brands and quality, and thinking about how I’m going to use it (often I go for something really simple and basic, rather than the latest gadget)- and then I try to take care of it and get the most out of it.
On the yarn stashing front- there are so many amazing textures and colours available- I love trying new things, but I have to admit I have a few favorite yarns that I’m always drawn to and love buying more of, just becuase!
June 27 2007 at 7:39 am
red_swirl/ginevraI thought that you might be inspired by some Aussie women who’ve recently begun small print-runs of their own fabric:
Kristen
Lara
Shannon
I hope whatever isn’t going so well for you at the moment, gets better soon.
July 2 2007 at 4:01 pm
SusanI do hate that everything is so disposable, and that much of my own stuff is going to end up in a landfill one day. I envision all these factories keeping people employed, yet churning out new, new, new, new. It gets supremely overwhelming to the psyche sometimes to think about and I admit to trying not to think about it, which I feel ashamed to do. I try to remember I’m also only human and not to beat myself up about.
I recall reading somewhere that iPods were specifically designed to last a certain amount of time and not be fixable once they died. The solution: buy a new one and toss the old one, and keep the business profits going. I wonder how true that is…
July 16 2007 at 6:18 pm
bits and bobbins » archives » fluoro diamond prints![...] remember how i told you that i’m taking a silkscreening class at sfai? and that i pulled a print of diamonds as a test print a few weeks back? [...]