The last year I've really been trying to challenge myself to explore things other than knitting. I'd followed Sarah K. Benning's embroidery for a while but never thought to try it myself. If you follow me on instagram, you'd have seen a kit of hers I tried back in May.
Embroidery turned out to be a much more meditative experience for me than knitting. I found it required a lot more concentration, but in a way that was really calming. Since her kit, I've purchased a few more of her patterns. The one above is her ocean pattern -- she only releases them a couple times a year now so I make sure to scoop some up when I can.
She's also the only artist whose newsletter I subscribe to. In her newsletter she shared a free pattern for this little gingko leaf. I stitched this up for my friend for whom it has special meaning for.
I've also tried to engage a bit more in the fiber artist community on instagram and in real life. I've become more conscious of making sure I'm not inadvertently buying stolen intellectual property by buying directly from the artist.
Does anyone remember my Laminaria Shawl from 2012? To be honest I didn't until I was cleaning out my knitting basket at my parents' house. I'm still honestly super proud of this lace project, but I just never wore it (and don't really know when you wear lace shawls outside of formal events).
I have just moved into a new apartment with my partner and we had a lot of bare walls. In my old apartment, the walls were pretty crappy -- I once tried to hang a picture up with a command hook and took off about a 4x4in section of drywall. Our new apartment has wall that will not be easily destroyed, so I can finally decorate.
When I found my shawl I thought, why not just frame it an hang it? I had no idea how to frame textile so I visited The Framer's Workshop in Brookline, MA. It's a great space where they teach you how to frame whatever it is you bring in. I learned A LOT and also got to spend 3ish hours chatting with some amazing local artists.
The whole experience really helped me to think about what I do not as "just knitting" but rather maybe real art.
It now hangs in our living room!
Finally, for Christmas this year I asked my partner for an artist's workshop. Returning to Boston has been great in expanding the amount of access I have to all these different creative places and opportunities. I did a wrapped rainbows workshop with 1010 Studio at JP Knit and Stitch a couple of weekends ago. It was so much fun to learn how to make these beautiful pieces of wall art by Mandi Smethells. This one currently also hangs in our living room. I plan to make another for my niece :)
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