tea cozy competition

please vote for my "milk & honeybees" tea cozy! follow this link to the larkin tea website. many thanks and gratitude!

spring means flowers

it also means a renewal of creative energy. between spinning yarn, sewing, knitting a tunic, and planning, i managed to knit a tea cozy for a competition. usually i'm not a terribly big fan of knitting. i think it's because i need to rely on a pattern and even with a swatch i'm not always certain of the finished size; and it's not like you can rip out seams and cut down the fabric to resize, or sew on another trim to make it larger, or that you can make a muslin mockup first. as well, it becomes disconcerting ripping out rows of yarn and restitching several times. so when i say that this cozy was an effort and that i'm glad teapots come in various sizes, you can take it to mean that to get exactly what i had envisioned was a trial. i'm just merry that it is as cute as it is!

not everything is focused on textiles this month; orchids are another thing which interests me. i have eight which i've recently repotted and am looking for signs of growth every time i water them. this past weekend there was an orchid show at the local mall. seeing all the varieties of shape and species is amazing! they're so exotic, but familiar, garish and humble, dazzling and so alive. i snapped many photos, but don't want to become too "family photos from our recent vacation" like, and so will share only some random favorites.

making in response to needing

i've been enjoying a spurt of creativity; setting a goal for the day and finishing it. being out of work has really encouraged me to focus my hours on making things which i could sell. "if you don't have work, make work to sell" is my new motto. in the past i worked on pin cushions, which went over okay, then i created boudoir cushions, which i only sold one of, and now i'm onto tea cosies. this last is probably a reflection of creating something with utilitarian uses and the amount of tea i find myself drinking. i've become something of a teaholic these last months (okay, last two years).

being in japan gave me a great respect for their green teas, as well as an appreciation for the umami and astringency which is a major aspect of ocha. it's a tea which i find myself drinking several cups of during the day, and because of the low caffeine, not suffering from jitters, nerves, and insomnia as a result. i love the roasted hojicha, the refreshing cold barley tea, the sweet uji-shimizu with almond milk, and the green freshness of sencha. although, i do enjoy a good black tea, fruity more often than not, with sweet things. luckily, the second cup brews caffeine free.

a major influence on the tea cosy front, is the work of tara badcock, a fantastic and prolific textile artist in australia. i've enjoyed seeing her pieces for years now, and happen to own an exquisite pincushion and change purse (which i use every day) she created. i've borrowed the ruched edge binding she does for my own cosies, as it adds an element of strong color, and a certain timeless grace. plus, who doesn't love something which is almost heedless rococo? as well, it reminds me of the costumes from marie antoinette, and gowns from that period.

all in all, i figure it's about time to live up to expectations and find my artistic footing. too often i find my creations driven from a certain selfishness; i want what i create, i create in response to things i want.  it's hard for me to part from my brood of artistic expressions. thereby making it hard to earn any money.  well, as it was once said, "onwards and upwards".