Main Street Yarns

I got out of work early today and headed over to Main Street Yarns in Watkinsville. I picked up a ball of light green Dolce Amore fingering weight cotton, three balls of Cascade Fixation for the Zaftig Bra (though I may keep going and turn it into a tank for lounging around in), and an amazing skein of lace-weight silk from Claudia Hand Painted Yarns in a variegated blue, green, & purple colorway called Ocean Depth. I also picked up a pair of size 5 circs and size 2 straights while I was there. 

I was so glad to go and visit. It's a little intimidating, seeing all the beautiful yarns and the samples knit up. Little baby sweaters, felted slippers, long lacy shawls, and a bunch of people who are just as excited about it as I am. It's like my grown-up version of a candy store. 

I'm also sending word out to see who'd be interested in an on-campus knitting club. If there's enough interest, maybe we can get the ball rolling.

Flammarion Woodcut

For my painting class, I reproduced the Flammarion Woodcut - an anonymous woodcut depicting a pilgrim peeking through veil of the sky to see the inner workings of the universe. Though its original date is suspect, 1888 seems likley; the color was added in 1998.

My version is black acrylic, with the tinting done in gouache, on canvas board. I opted to leave my border uncolored, and I think it sets it apart from the illustration nicely.

The next thing for painting class is to see what I can do about using the mood and style of the above work to inspire a costume design of some type. I did some sketching in class and have a sort of Galadriel-meets-Renfaire thing going on. I'll post it after it's painted.

Another class I'm taking is a "costume problems" class. A large component of the class is focusing on makeup, both for stage and screen. Since the last Ben Nye I bought was cinnamon base and I've long since given away all my white-girl makeup, it was time for a whole new kit. If any interesting photos develop, I'll post those as well.

In my crafting life, I've made a zillion cute bobby pins, I'm fighting with double-pointed knitting needles in a renewed determination to figure out sock knitting, and I've purchased the supplies for turning my old clarinet into a lamp. I have more ideas than time, as usual! I'll let you know how those things go, too.

Finally!

After nearly a month of spinning for two hours almost every night, I'm finally finished.... sort of. My three ounces of Starlight Starbright batting have now become 150 yards of single-ply laceweight yarn. Next I'm going to have to ply it, but that leaves me with only 75 yards, and I'm still very undecided about what to knit it into. 

I wanted to take a spinning class over at Main Street this week because as much fun as I've had making this yarn, I'd really like it to go a little faster. But in the end, I decided not to go. I knew if I fell in love with a wheel spinning, I'd just want to buy a wheel!

For the time being, I'd be better off focusing on my homework. Right now I'm working on a recreation of the Flammarion Woodcut. My outlines are all done in acrylic, and I'm going to do the tinting in watercolor. It's kind of an experiment, so hopefully it'll turn out well.

More pictures of my yarn and the b&w woodcut are over at flickr.

Yes We Can!

At midnight last night I realized: I did not have a single piece of Obama clothing to wear for inauguration day! What's a patriotic girl to do? Why, follow Corrinne & Rob's advice over on the Threadbanger forums, of course! 

After a quick printout of the Obama logo and some colored pencil action, my shrinkies were ready to go in the toaster oven. When they were all cooled off, I coated both sides with acrylic gel medium for a glassy shine, and super glued a pin to the back. Success!

More pictures can be seen on my flickr site, and be sure to check out the Threadbangers for more crafty how-to's!

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Oh! I forgot to mention that I also made the blazer I'm wearing in the above photo. Keep your eyes peeled for sales on suiting fabrics, and you can have some nice business attire.

The Dragon Ruby

Of course, creativity isn't only limited to things that involve sewing and gluing.  A dear friend of mine has recently gotten his book published, and my copy arrived from Amazon today! I'm so excited to begin reading. 

Welcome!

Welcome to the Mountain Majesty crafting blog! I'm delighted to join the online indiecraft community.

I'm a 27 year old student at the University of Georgia, pursuing my MFA in Costume Design for the Theater. I build costumes and clothing both professionally and for my own wardrobe. My crafty interests include spinning, knitting, jewelrymaking, and whatever else strikes my fancy.  Right now, I'm working on spinning up a beautiful 3 oz. batt of fiber from butterflygirldesigns.etsy.com. 

At UGA, we're going into tech for Steve Martin's show Underpants. The costumes are bright and bold, and though publicity photos aren't up yet, you can get ticket information here:

www. drama.uga.edu/eents/productions.php

Please take a look around, send me a message, and have a great time crafting!