told you I was tickled by tiny...

Radical_Lace_Merback

Originally uploaded by confetti*snowstorm

Yesterday I mentioned my growing love of tininess. I favourited these gloves on flickr quite a while back because they are... frankly mental. I can't even knit full size gloves. These have five tiny fingers each. It's completely crazy. How how how can this happen? They are knitted by a lady called Althea Merback (I suppose if you have a name like that it's almost inevitable that you do some sort of ridiculously creative activity) who knitted the costumes for the film version of Coraline. I came across this video on Whipup recently.

Corlaine comes out in the UK in May, just in time for my birthday. I think I'm going to go and see it (in 3D!) for my birthday outing. I've never seen a 3D film before. Tiny knitting in 3D. Woo hoo!

(Edit: I've just noticed on the video that she is called Althea Crome and not Althea Merback but they MUST be the same person, right?  Surely there couldn't be two Altheas knitting such tiny garments?  That would be too strange.  Maybe she got married... but when would she possibly have found the time?)

post dinner post

Here is our after dinner scene.  I thought the cups and saucers looked almost too perfect.  I have the Friday night tiredness tonight.  I'm watching a documentary about doll's house enthusiasts and hoping I don't ever get bitten by that bug.  I think it could happen quite easily.  All things tiny seem to appeal to me these days.  Hmmm, I feel like I have lots of things to blog about but I think I'll save them for when I am more alert, maybe later this weekend.  I'm going back to the Donna Wilson exhibition tomorrow and can't wait to see it again.  I don't think I managed to convey its greatness properly yesterday.  Go go go to the lighthouse this weekend!  

Right, I'm off to start designing my doll's house :)

escape to the woods

Originally uploaded by LiseMac

I don't really have the energy to blog but I just had to stop by to rave about knitted trees and toadstools. On Saturday I visited The Lighthouse with my Australian cousin. There was an exhibition on by Donna Wilson and this is a picture of part of it - a giant knitted forest! It was the most fun thing I've seen in a long time but the exhibition finishes on Sunday. I am planning a return visit this Saturday (when entrance is freeeeeee!) so that I can soak up its wonder before it goes. I wanted to speedily share this info in the hope that anyone else in/near Glasgow will get to go and see it too. If that is their cup of tea, of course... But really, who wouldn't love a crazy beautiful giant knitted forest!?

a match(box) made in heaven

czechoslovakian matchbox label 

Originally uploaded by maraid

It's all busy busy busy in the dropstitch household (I seem to have just appointed myself matriarch...) with various visiting relatives from far flung corners of the world. I was also back at work today after a very natural feeling long weekend, which was a bit sad and quite painful. I think I have many wonderful things to blog about from my own life (don't get your hopes up please!) but I am just making a flying visit today to share this wonderful matchbox. Oh! Oh! Oh! I love it so! If you haven't already, you must visit maraid's flickr and see her outrageously amazing matchbox collection.

hello, sailor! (or a nautical valentine's)

Today is Saturday the 14th of February.  There were low lying clouds and a light westerly wind this afternoon when Graham and I went on an excursion.

 En route to our excursion's destination we saw the lovely graffiti above, which got the day off to a good start.  I hadn't seen a new piece of nice graffiti in a long time and I really liked this cowgirl and her lovely lashes.

We purposefully walked by this tree (spotted on new year's day) so that I could photograph it.  It's grown so much over the years that part of the fence is now inside it.  The fence is all bent and I like to think someone tried to rip it out but the tree was too strong.  If you live in Glasgow (and are looking for a cheap day out - ha!) I can heartily recommend going to see this tree in real life.  You can find it on Kelvin Way and that is the old bandstand in the background.

Graham says this car is Jim Lambie's latest project.  I don't think he was lying (?) so maybe we've saved ourselves a future exhibition entrance fee by peering over high walls!

Our plan for the day was to go and see (finally!) the tattoo exhibition at the tall ship, after failing to see it twice already.  It is a small exhibition but was really interesting.  It was all about the history of tattoos and how sailors started the trend in the west after visiting various peoples in far off lands, being amazed by their tattoos and getting some done themselves as a souvenir of their time and the people they met.  It also covered how western missionaries went to the same places and tried to ban tattooing and used it to brand those they saw as criminals.  Thanks to that, some cultures have lost a lot of the ancient techniques/designs they used.  I liked the cover of the book shown above.

We went aboard the Tall Ship while we were there and had a great time.  Who couldn't be happy with so many portholes around...

... and the word 'poop' written in so many places?  Tee hee!

I considered becoming a pirate and living a life on the ocean waves in a home on the rolling seas, but the fact I felt a bit seasick on a stationary boat made me reconsider.

We lunched at Big Slope (yum) but stopped for a nosy in the windows of the shop with entertaining signs (as shown above - click on the picture to see a larger version) on the way.  What a hoot!  I think I could be too easily amused...

This evening Graham is working.  I'm itching to try out my gocco but I think I may wait until I have the reassurance of some company.  I have plenty of knitting to be getting on with in the meantime anyway, as well as lots of birthday presents to be making.  But I think the gocco is calling... 

Fortunately, I don't understand what it's saying :)

printing: the past, the present, the future...

Today is a momentous day... kind of... in that my gocco arrived.  Eeep!  This week I've been working on my first print design and I've been surprisingly happy with it.  However, now that I see the gocco with its four bulbs and two screens (just enough supplies to make my one rather ambitious two screened first design) and its unfathomable (to me) japanese instructions, I am filled with trepidation and self doubt.  Have I been over ambitious?  What if I break the gocco the very first time I use it?  Will I ever get more bulbs and screens?  When will I stop feeling like I'm about to start hyperventilating?  Pant pant pant.

To distract/reassure myself I have decided to share my recent more low-tech experiment in printing, lino printing to be precise... or imprecise, as it was actually a slightly softer than lino substance that I carved this from and I'm not 100% sure what it's called...?  Anyway, I hand carved the image from a lino style substance (!) and printed a number of images from it.

For those of you who didn't spend your childhood Saturdays watching large men in leotards, this is Big Daddy.  Graham is quite a fan of British wrestling from days gone by and I designed and made this print for his recent birthday.  I also gave a print to Claire as a thank you for the cups she gave me (again for Graham's birthday).

This close-up shows (as well as reflections from the frame) the paper I printed on.  I used the blue insides of recycled envelopes that I had been saving up for some time.  This particular envelope pattern was probably my favourite but many others also turned out rather nicely.  I printed quite a lot (and may go back and print more) and have a plan for them to be put to good use...  More on that mysterious snippet soon!

I'm confident nobody would argue with the fact (please don't) that this Big Daddy print proves I am surely a natural born printer.  My gocco will love me.

anticipation

Tonight, my dear, tonight...