When it’s over

15Apr07

When my school year is finally over, I’d like to work on a portrait in the style of ’40s vintage glamour shots. I have some black Stonehenge paper, and I’ll like to draw on it in white, probably just pencil crayon; pastels would be too messy and ill-defined. I might not use a full 22″x30″ sheet, but I’d like to work bigger than I have in the past. As I haven’t worked on a portrait over the size of 22″x15″ that I can remember and I’ve never drawn in the negative, I’m quite excited. I’ve already got some refs and a composition in mind…

The year’s end means exams, so I’ve been trying to study instead of blog. It hasn’t been a completely dull time though…

I recently got copies of The Adventures of Sherlock Holmes and The Memoirs. They’re from 1975 but are “unabridged facsimiles” of the 1892 originals! Complete with the Sidney Paget illustrations!! As a child I loved Holmes and can distinctly remember reading The Adventures and wondering what the hell was really behind the mystery. I love the prose, and the drawings… the drawings drive me wild. In my research they’ve only been described as “illustrations”, not specifically lithograph illustrations. However, the 1890s is just the time when lithography began to be used commonly for book illustrations, and that’s exactly what they look to me, with the smudgy, watercolour-like shading in the back, and the fine tonality. Of course, a lithograph, being based originally on drawing, can look, well, exactly like a drawing, but weren’t most drawn illustrations from the time pen and ink? But, really hard to be conclusive, especially I’m studying halftone images. Still, very exciting.

A couple of weeks ago I knit my first sock, a top down mini. Soon after, I followed it with this, a toe up. I love making toe-up socks. I love the neatness of the short rows much more than my crummy attempts at picking up stitches on a Dutch heel. Most of all, I like being able to see how long I can make my sock legs ’til I run out of yarn. Which brings me to this…

I picked up this gorgy purpleness from Mission Falls recently. The merino is so soft I want to felt it, except of course I can’t ’cause it’s superwash. I didn’t really know what I wanted to do with this yarn, but what with the mini sock testing, I really wanted to make a warm, thick pair of feel-good socks. (Seeing purple is supposed to boost to boost your self-esteem.)

I did have to study though:

(Poor sock.) But after that particular exam I was back at it this weekend.

It knits up extremely fast; I caught up to the first (unfinished) sock all in one day’s lax knitting.

It’s funny that Eunny knit such similar socks. I was actually doing the reverse stripes for the same reason; trying to make the most of my yarn. I also used the same jogless jog, but that happens to be the only one that’s ever made sense to me.

Now that I’ve begun I’ve totally caught the sock bug. I love the construction, portability, and fun of sock knitting. They would make great gifts. Which is why I bought even more yarn today, KnitPicks Palette in Ash and Fog, for Boy socks. I know this Peruvian wool won’t be as soft as the merino I’m using (which The Boy loved), but I’m hoping it’s extremely durable ’cause they will be boot socks!  I also hope my order arrives on time – after school’s over and before I leave for vacation!

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