Objects de Arte

Finding

Published on February 17, 2018October 20, 2024 by Jen17 Comments

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After losing most of my things in the wildfire, I am scouting again.

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Earlier this week I found this retro beauty in a local consignment shop of antique & vintage objects, and we picked it up this morning.

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A bathtub is not a delicate or graceful object, and I certainly wasn’t expecting to find one while out scouting in the thrift & antique shops, but the utmost in useful things in my opinion, something of daily life, and lifestyle. I can’t express just how gratified it makes me feel to begin to find pieces of a home again, which is in so many ways my identity.

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This goes especially for used things, sturdy and elegant old-fashioned things that have already endured decades of use. I love, love, love old things, and am ready and eager to bring them into our new house, which likely won’t be any sooner than a year, but I can begin finding now. We will have at least saved a fortune snatching up this one, and not waiting until later to buy new.

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I suppose I am like so many other Nesters, completely taken in by the beauty of a utilitarian thing like an old bath tub.

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My new finding does have me feeling pleased with myself, even though for now it will have to stand patiently next to a big window in our holding place, and I think it will come in handy as a giant yarn bowl, or laundry basket, until eventually the new house is built.

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Frustrations over painfully slow rebuilding aside, and nature’s cruel black hand is far from getting use to, but admittedly life is seeming to feel good again as this particular finding brings my focus forward to what might be. My time is filled with mostly looking for things, awkwardly filling a foreign house with new things I only have faith will feel good in my future home rebuilt . . . and some things I found from the ashes too.

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Published on December 28, 2016March 11, 2019 by Jen2 Comments

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I mentioned in a previous post that I have a new camera (thanks to Jeff), which means a bit of time will be spent to learn how to use it properly, and to catch up to the photographing mainstream. I feel a great lack of confidence when it comes to technical things, unless the subject really interests me, then maybe there’s potential… 😉 I have never really learned to use (our last) camera’s settings, having been too impatient, having been always always satisfied with whatever happened with minimal fussing about …

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and finally, having dropped it, (I seem to drop everything!) my recent months of photos were just getting worse. I now am learning things like ‘depth of field’ which is a new thing to me. So you might see some bits of non-knitting related things show up here over the course of my learning, for undoubtedly it will eventually blossom into the knitting, and hopefully transform the presentation of what I have been working on rather passionately for several years now.

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I am no presentation fanatic, however although I never before paid enough attention to the modes, menus, knobs & dials on the previous camera, I learned to photograph paying fastidious attention to natural light, and of putting a lot of importance on background. Come to think of it, that perhaps should be the prerequisite to good photos, but now that I can shorten depth of field, (make everything in the background rather fuzzy and unimportant) I will better be able to show clear small details, as in tutorial photos, which is very very nice. I am a bit taken suddenly by this whole super duper focus aspect of photography.

But okay, this antique door knob is a really great practice object, but then when I get to looking at it closely ….

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I see motifs for a tam design, don’t you?

So maybe it is entirely knitting related after all.

Golden

Published on August 31, 2016March 11, 2019 by Jen11 Comments

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Earliest morning light greets me as I go into the dark kitchen to make a pot of tea. Certain times of year the rising sun aligns and finds a tiny window through acres of trees and pierces through to light up this antique oak ice chest in our kitchen, a real stonehenge-like occurrence near the equinoxes. I really am fascinated with the play of light, and how it changes dramatically the perception of objects, and even emotions about them, or a room. Light moves swiftly as the colors that are created from it are a palette seemingly endless and varied.

A few minutes later you can see the light washing out a bit, and a shadow of a fir tree from the woods in front of the kitchen window…in a sort of woodsy magic shadow puppet show!

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Many Socks

Published on April 27, 2016May 31, 2026 by Jen8 Comments

Continuing in the same vein as my previous posts Part One & Part Two , about my love of John Muir’s High Country, wild woolly beasts that live on the granite, my new design inspired by High Sierras, in tribute to John Muir, and dedicated to my husband Jeff…

I now settle into navigating my energy level out of the manic invention, and into the staid level of production the task of making many socks. From large brush strokes, to small precise ones. Already have 3 pairs of the trail socks on the needles for Jeff (one trail, one country, one plain), and now I’m also queuing up for a pair of socks each for Miss Sixteen & Miss Thirteen !

These will be the Ankle Sock variation in the pattern, with just the cuff going into the corrugated ribbing; one pair cream with grey contrast, the other pair grey with cream contrast ~~ fun! Trying out a lovely blend of 60% Fine Merino Superwash – 20% Mulberry Silk, and 20% nylon (not getting brand specific here), 440 yards to 100grams = fine fingering weight.

As both of my nieces are runners now, I believe the ankle sock may just be a stellar running sock, and am happy for them to test these. Two more pairs of socks for Springtime, coming up!

Linen Shirt Make-over

Published on June 14, 2015March 11, 2019 by Jen6 Comments

jenjoycedesign©linen shirt makeover My love of linen has grown deeper with time. Its rustic wholesome weave holds my appreciation like no other textile. The warm shades of grey form layers in the seams, and when held in front of angled light from the late or early sun, it is simply beautiful. Just to see it that way I am able to almost smell its fragrance, as if the presence remains of that field of flax from which it was born, and it my skin longs to be against it.

So, I made another shirt for myself, new out of old.

Making new clothes out of old is one of those things which I absolutely love to do but takes a bit of skill. Pardon the wrinkly shirt photo, but that is actually the way I prefer it, not ironed too much, just a little, for linen has such personality with a little texture showing. Months ago I bought a linen shirt from the thrift shop and I was wearing it around like a tent recently, and yesterday I finally cut into it. Now it is more of my style, it has personality, it is natural, totally unique, and has a feminine classic charm. There was plenty needle threading and hand-sewing, which I adore actually, and the machine work was plenty too.

Here’s what I did: I first ripped off the breast pocket, then cut out the big bulky button bands and collar. Then I cut off some off of the length which gave me enough fabric to sew in a ‘gusset’ to bridge the two fronts in the absence of the button band. I cut off the cuffs and cuff button placket, completely, which left sleeves a little short.

From two sleeves I had cut before off of another linen shirt in my pile of linen scraps, I made simple wide folded faced bands to extend into a sort of cuff, and pleated the excess sleeve material to fit… a fast & easy way to go… and looks great rolled up. Usually I just hem the neck opening without a collar, but this time I had envisioned a peter-pan collar, so I set into making a collar custom to the cut-out neck, with the other linen sleeve in the scrap pile, and with the help of this book, published 1930’s….

Finished, and excited to get involved in a very summertime project for the hot weather, and that is making new out of old, re-making every possible tent-like mens’ linen shirt I possibly can get a hold of , and immerse myself in the metamorphosis of them into artful beautiful shirts for *moi*. My wardrobe is anorexic, but is on the mend, and I’m absolutely loving my needlework, on a quiet mountain, punctuated by very little else, which suits me just fine.

I’m ready to go at it with another!