Scrap Sock Yarn Blanket

After knitting now for 2 years or so, I thought it was time to write a knitting pattern. This one started with the idea of using scraps of sock yarn to make a blanket. Yes, I know there are many such amazing and simple patterns online and I tried my hand at a few. Each one is great and has its own charm. I am not ranting anything against them, but there were some things which hindered my progress on those.

Firstly, I was stumbling on choosing the right colors and have them evenly distributed through out the blanket.
Like other scrap yarn blanket, I could plan and distribute the different colors evenly, but then there is all that seaming to do at the end.
And you know there are always those colors which you are really not crazy about. Your eye would always go directly to that square and haunt you.
Also each square from a yarn, gets predictable after a while and the project might loose steam.
And like any blanket project, including mine... it takes time.

So, I wanted to knit up this blanket which would keep the excitement going. Using every bit of yarn and making the yarn keep changing, avoid weaving in the ends and make every section pop.

Here comes my Seashell Scrap Yarn blanket. The pattern can be purchased here

Let me tell you majority of the work for this blanket is done before even starting to knit. What you work on is creating this colorful yarn cake, using every small bit of yarn from your scraps. All bits are joined by magic knots.

The pattern emphasizes on an easy way to categorize your yarns based on color tones and making colorful yarn cakes which can be used for similar projects. You could make a simple striped garter blanket using these colorful yarn cakes.

Lots of simple show rows make the shells. Short rows in this pattern involve just turning work and working the stitches, leaving a hole. These holes make a nice border around the shells making them pop.

Behind the scenes... Making my knitted mugs

Many have asked me about my process and how I make my work. I do get a shocked surprise when I say that my mugs are not made on the wheel, but are individually hand built from slabs of clay.
Slabs are textured, trimmed, cleaned up and then assembled. Then bottoms added, handles added and of course the buttons.
Here is a small clipping showing the assembly of the walls of the mug. I wish I was as fast as this video. :)

Stitches West

I know it has been more than a year since I updated my blog. From my previous postings you can see that I was experimenting with knitting patterns on my work and if you have been following me on facebook and instagram, you know how busy that has made me.
I just thought instead of writing long posts, I might just make shorter posts about what is happening in the studio and what is on my needles.
So last week, I went to Stitches West as a vendor for the first time. It was a great show and got to meet so many knitters who have been following my work.
Here are some of the highlights. Visit from Stephen West of westknits designs. Love all his patterns and how he plays with colors. Though I am not so much of a neon person, I admire his courage and have knit several of his patterns. And after setup was the StevenBe and Stephen West fashion show.

 My stash enhancement. I was good and on a yarn diet. But..... Miss Babs... How could I resist those colors? And I have always wanted to knit with spincycleyarns from Bellingham, WA. Got myself a sock bag for my travel knitting from Slipped Stitch Studio.

 And here are some pictures of my booth with new garter Stitch pattern pieces. I sold out of the needle keeper vases on the first day.

I had also taken some amazing handmade buttons from potter and friend, Ginger Steele. (Also known as my Whitey mom). More on those later... I selected some for my sweaters as well. Loved each and every one of them.

Simple tool for cutting templates

My pottery work does involve a lot of slab work. My mugs, cups, boat bowls etc.. are all cut out from slabs of clay.

I have always used sheets of plastic or stiff paper on the clay and cut with my knife. Works great, but when you have to do hundreds of these it can get very tiring.
I made these template cutters similar to tile cutters. I initially got the idea from seeing a video where stacks of denim fabric were being cut into templates for legs, pockets etc... with these hydraulic cutters.

I made these cutters from wood and some out of chopping boards and metal straps. It takes time making one, but it sure speeds up the process. I used them extensively in 2014 and am making similar ones for all the pieces I need to cut.

Niche Award 2015 Finalist

If you have been reading my blog or have talked to me about my Mojari shoes, you know how they came about. From an exhibit at Nordstorm during NCECA, to ripping off my wife's wedding shoes and how I just got deeper into making more of these shoes. You can read more about that story here.

Well I have some good news, one pair of these shoes has been chosen for the Niche Awards 2015!!!
Now send good thoughts that I win. :)

Featured in the American Craft Council Magazine

I am thrilled to share this news with you. My story and work are featured in the "American Craft Council" magazine in the October issue.

I got a two page spread with lots of pictures accompanied with a well written article.

Now you can read where my design aesthetic comes from and feel free to share with your friends and family.

Browse my online store and get my signature pieces as part of your collection.

Pottery with Knitting patterns

I finally got around to it and completed my dishes with a knitting pattern. I had mentioned about them in my previous post and I am so excited to see how they came out. I LOVE them!!! Great for tea bags, spoon rests and even holding stitch markers
I listed them in my Etsy shop and very soon I sold 20+ of them.

I made more and listed them here
I also have a SPECIAL going on for Free shipping till August 29th. Just use coupon code AUGFREE14 at check out.

My mind is now creeping up with more ideas, so let's see where this goes

New Dancing Divas

I had not made some of my popular dancing divas for a while and the main reason was the lack of inspiration. I make the forms and then it is the process of dressing them up in unique outfits, figuring out construction, clothes, jewelry etc.. After making these for years, I know exactly what women mean when they say they have "Nothing to wear!!"
I am really happy with these new divas, their movement and grace makes me want to dance too. Which one is your favorite?

Knitting... Beware, it is addicting

As some of you know I have been bitten by the knitting bug and it is an addiction.
I don't know what it is that keeps me going, but the slow build up of fabric one stitch at a time, shaping it slowly is just very exciting.

Here is an update on somethings that I have been knitting. You can follow me on ravelry to see the progress.
As you can see I am really enjoying knitting socks. The complexity of the shape of a foot, the calculations required to turn the heel and the fact that you don't need a lot of yarn to knit socks, keeps me going.

Featured in the New Edition of the Extruder Book

I am thrilled to have my work included in the second edition of "The Extruder Book" by Daryl E. Baird.
The book is filled with great insight on organizing spaces, techniques, designs and lots of inspiration. Daryl does a great job with the demos. Available as a book or an ebook!

I connected with Daryl few years back over facebook and was delighted to meet him in person in 2012 during NCECA in Seattle. He had come by my studio to see my setup and was impressed by several things which he has included in his book. Organized Extruder space, CD shelf reused for storing extruder dies, my dies made from Aluminum sheets... are all included in this book.

My Oil Vinegar Bottles and one of my Dancing Diva Sculptures is also included in the book.

New work Wine Bottle Stoppers

I just checked my blog and realized it has been a while since I posted. I apologize and hope to be more active about it.
It has been a busy year and this year my schedule changed, since the trade show I do, Buyers Market of American Craft also known as American Made show was early in January. So didn't have much of downtime during the holidays and it was work in full swing. Anyway... enough of excuses.

I have been busy and really excited about my new Wine Stoppers. I used to make some before but wanted a new style and a new technique for making them. I really like these designs that go well with my line of indian inspired pottery.

I have three basic shapes and the Spade and Fan shape can also be customized with initials for personalized wine stoppers for a wedding gift. You can see that they are nice large size stoppers which an really make a statement with the wine bottle you gift. A great hostess gift as well.

Which is your favorite shape and you do you have suggestions for more shapes?

New Hobby?.... Knitting

It has been a busy year and it continues to be busy and it is at times like this that I feel I need another hobby.... really? The way I see it, when I worked full time as a software engg, I had pottery as my hobby to make me switch my brain.
Now since I have been doing pottery 3 years full time, I felt the need to exercise that side of my brain which wants to learn something new. Not that I have a lot of time, but I think it will be good for me.
But then the question came as to what new hobby. Sewing and Painting came to mind, but I just felt it was too much of a setup and room I would need to dedicate for it. Then it just occurred to me to try knitting. I knew I always wanted to try it, but always thought it was super hard to do.
I didn't have any needles or yarn. I then just took a pair of chopsticks and a chord and looked up some youtube videos and I got the hang of it. To learn better I went to my friend Ann Meersman and Ginger Steele to teach me some more and point out to things that I might be doing wrong.
So far it has been fun and I am enjoying the process of gradually creating fabrics with patterns... and you all know how much I love pattern... You never know how these patterns will make their way into my pottery work.
Here is the first scarf I knit for my niece and I am now working on another scarf and a shawl.
I am curious to know how many other artists have a hobby? Are you one of them?

Studio organized... progress

It has been a busy week and half, reorganizing the studio space. As you can see in my previous post the studio was getting really cluttered and I was completely out of horizontal space. Things always had to be constantly moved around and a shelf could be used for just one thing, storing handbuilt pieces in progress, decorating or glazing.

One significant change was moving the kiln in the garage. With the garage in my working studio space, I often lost a day or two of work during a week because it got too hot in the studio. Plus it takes up so much room. Now with the kiln gone I was not only able to put another set of shelves, but also add another working table. Now with more that one shelf I don't have to move things around that much.

The garage space also got a uplift. The thing that bothered me most about it was the packing peanut dispenser which hung in the middle of the garage. Cannot live without it but at the same time it shrunk my space in half. I modified the shape of it and fortunately it fit snugly in the dead corner between the garage door rail and the wall and could also go higher up. And those Ikea shelves work great for me to sort out wholesale orders.

To move the kiln in the garage, I did have to have electric work done. Got two outlets in the garage for another kiln in the future and added other power outlets too. Of course, got a lot of light added as well. Now with the kiln in the garage, I don't have to worry about my studio working schedule. I can make things when I want to rather than waiting for my studio to cool down.

And cleaning out the garage and the studio, did generate stuff that was taken to the Goodwill, distributed to other artist friends. But there was significant trash which was taken to the dump. Any guesses on how much the trash weighed?

Studio needs to be cleaned and reorganized

To have a good functioning pottery studio, one needs space. That would be true for almost any artist. The more space we have the better.
But what do you do when you don't have the space? Well, you learn to efficiently use every inch of space that you have. And it is very essential, to clean out the studio and get rid of stuff more often.
I know of some artist who have huge spaces. I am not going to name any names, but I am jealous. Some of them have their space organized well, but most of them can get away with just spreading around which also results in collection of stuff that never sees the light of day.
So sometimes I feel that just having the big space might not be the perfect solution, though I will take it if I got it.
For some of you who have been to my studio know that I work in a fairly small space for he amount of work that I make. My studio is the family room at the ground level of our home and it is ~350 sq ft and also houses the kiln in it. Recently with constant firing and struggling with covering things because they would dry sooner than I want and with the increased production, some serious changes need to be made. In addition to this space I do use a one-car garage as well to store inventory, packing orders, and all the other misc stuff.
Here are some pictures and you can see it is pretty tight and always a challenge for more horizontal space. Well, I am making some changes and will post pictures of what happens later. The kiln will be moving to the garage and more shelving added to the studio. Garage space will be organized a lot better.... hopefully.

How big is your studio space???

Another Bust Blouse Sculpture

In the month of May, I had posted about my new bust sculpture that I was working on. I did sell that one at the Edmonds show to a wonderful couple. Ever since then my mind has been buzzing with the possibility of making more designs, more elaborate patterns on them. And since the area is large, I get all the more area to decorate. hehehe... Here are some pictures of my latest sculpture. I love the red and honey gold combination on this one and like the way it stands out. Feel free to share and comment.