This is all going to change.

Quick summary recap of what has happened since my last post in Oh-Em-Gee April: I went to London for a fantabulous shoe making course (more on this later), I got a fantastic full-time job, I realized I need to work first and foremost for myself, and I decided to stop trying to master by learning and just master by doing. Oh, did I mention I’m moving? Yes, I am moving to Seattle semi-full-time (ha!) November 1st. I have big plans and bigger aspirations, and I do hope you’ll come along for the journey.

As always, with the utmost care and thought,

Yours,

J

So, the fabulous summer weather that had been rearing its head during this spring has driven me into a new state of anxiousness. I know, I suffer from an anxious disposition made worse by often sedimentary behavior. This time it’s me thinking about all the things I need to take care of and get in order and check off my list, etc. You know the deal, everyone does it… But somehow, my level of ridiculousness always catches me and makes me feel slightly green in the face.

I have WIPs almost everywhere in my life. And having checked of a pretty significant one recently (get my degree), I’ve gained a little momentum towards some others. The problem from me is that each project inspires another and I burst with thousands of ideas and concepts to start, but lack the resources (time, energy, money, ego) to complete. So here’s a good chunk of my round up, a little brainstorming list to get these things out there and keep them from lurking in the dangerous frontiers of my mind that cause my anxiety.

Knitting/Crochet

1. Swatches galore for work
2. Koigu hearts Mission Falls Cardigan | New project, but the one that gets me going the most
3. Koigu hearts Mission Falls projects 2,3,4,… | Wait until the first one is done!
4. Stormsvale | Pictured above. See that strange twisting there? Yeah, that’s a problem I didn’t catch until I got off the plane and had a good luck. Time to rip back! [edit: ripped back and restarted 30 April 2009]
5. Lorna’s Laces charades socks | I’ve lost momentum on these, time to rip back and reskein for later
6. Crochet alpaca shawl | Pattern I chose is too boring for the solid yarn, time to rethink and rip back
7. Uchiha Sweater | Coveted by SO, hopefully not doomed to the annals of the Sweater Curse (this is the second sweater, you know), started 3 years ago with some KnitPicks Wool of the Andes (atrocious stuff to handle for a full sweater), features all-black stockinette and an intarsia logo on the back (ugh, I know), a really lovely project that may soon be upgraded to nicer yarn so I can get this done!!! (One exclamation point per year)
8. Spring Blossom shawl in Schaeffer silk | In the basket, a few rows every now and then, no hurry
9. Frost Flowers and Leaves shawl in Inca Gold | Again, a few rows per year can’t hurt it, the worst is when lace gets too dull and grows at the same time (applies to No. 7 as well)
10. Geometric Lace stole for Ariadne | A few repeats every now and again will get it to where it’s going
11. Baby Surprise for Henry Arthur Bean | I gotta hurry before he gets too big to ever wear it!
12. Latvian mittens for the SO | As long as he has mittens by this winter…
13. Mittens for myself | Ha!
14. Fluffy hot pink wrap for a friend | I’m going to finish this sucker tonight. Not nearly as much fun to knit as I thought it might be, and I need to get this sucker out before summer is in full consistant swing.
15. Swing socks | Time for me to redraft the pattern and just have someone else knit them for me. You know, one sock syndrome is my worst enemy and has carried over into sleeves and mittens as well. I have to do them at the same time, but when it’s socks or colour work I just have to cringe.
16. Mission Falls 136 Hexagon blanket | New on the list, but I have to finish the first item before I delve into that
17. Ysolda’s Snow White | Do during a break from my own patterns
18. About 30 knit patterns trapped in my head that need to come out… eventually.
19. So many many more :S The worst is that was just off the top of my head, without having looked through the various areas where I stash old ‘friends’

Life

• Get back into yoga and/or bagua
• Plan this summers garden (wish I could manage year round)
• Write a grocery list, and general household schedule
• Scan all old coursework, paperwork and magazines to pdf and throw the paper away
• Set up new filing system
• Find a winter sport to get into
• Cook more frequently
• Purge closet
• Set up studio in apartment
• OK, so this list is mostly wishlist, not a real WIP list, but it nags at me!

Sorry for this mongrel of a post, but in an attempt to get myself to post more, they’ll probably be more spectacularily disorganized and haphazard.

Sigh. Life is a work in progress and mine is relatively leisurely. I cannot complain. I’m back in love with Montréals tiny Chinatown, indulging in fresh dumplings and baked goods. Meet Miss A, being her delightful self with her ’spring look’ while we terrorized de la Gauchetière LMAO. I felt like she needed to play tour guide for the afternoon. And here’s a little something to wet the palate (tastes way better than my photography can allow)

Bean Dip (just another version)

Ingredients

• 2 cans of white beans
• 1 package of edamame
• 4 cloves of garlic
• generous helping of parmesan, grated
• handful of fresh mint
• extra virgin olive oil
• salt and pepper to taste

The edamame (soy beans) that are easiest to get are the frozen ones in the pods. Just boil them for 3 or so minutes, rinse in cold water so you can touch them, and squeeze the beans out of the pod. It took the SO and I under ten minutes to get them out. Put the ingredients save the mint into the food processor and grow. Use the olive oil to get it to blend to the right consistency (right being whatever you prefer). Add the mint near the end so it doesn’t get too decimated. Serve with grilled pieces of bread or crackers or crudité. Enjoy.

Oh, and these photos remind me. It’s almost time to take off the winter-proofing plastic on our windows. To life!

So, Mission Falls currently produces three yarns: 1824 Wool, 1824 Cotton and 136 Wool. The ‘1824′ refers to the gauge of 18 sts by 24 rows. The 136 is the yardage of the other yarn weight, straddling the Sport/DK weight. None of the colours has ever been discontinued, and both lines have distinctive palettes. The 136 calls to me from the corners of the office, and at one of my last trips to Ariadne, my ridiculous addiction to Koigu (I have no less than 30 skeins of the stuff stashed around here), I picked up two of the new arrivals, and two of the previous shipments (one i have been coveting, and another i enjoyed knitting so much, I have to do it again).

One of the best things about Koigu is the multitude of colours and depth per skein. None of those skeins ever falls flat. There are the speckled ones (a personal favorite) that give me a sense of texture, there are the tonal colourways with their inherent depth, there are the melanges with flashes of something unexpected here and there. Koigu is the perfect companion to 136 as the weights are compatible and there is always a complimentary solid amongst the solid pantheon of Mission Falls. Plus, since it’s superwash, and I have yet to experience shrinking of Koigu in the wash (not the dryer mind you), it makes for an easy care garment.

I’ve already picked the 136 colours to match the Koigu I just picked up. Here it goes, from left to right:

• The muted purple with light speckles goes with Ink, a strong navy that will make some sophisticated little garment
• The blue and copper goes with Oatmeal or Russet depending on the season I choose to knit the garment for (summer or winter roughly)
• The lovely intense blues and purples go with Mallow, a much perkier colour that will make a bright statement in stripes I think
• The neutral browns/mauves with flashes of white and forest green will go with Damson, highlighting the colours from the subtle ‘muddiness’

I’m so excited I can’t stand it. Oh wait, yes, I can. Have I mentioned I love colours?

Oh yeah, I’ve been up to some craftiness. Aside from the fibre crafts, I dabble in the sewing arts. I’m the most comfortable hand stitching, because I don’t know all the variables and work arounds when using my sewing machine. I also have a surger, but have no idea how to fix it or adjust any of the settings. Threading that thing is hard enough.

I’d really love to quilt however, and Mary of Ariadne has offered to help me figure it out. It’s something I’m actually more comfortable with than sewing my own clothes, because it makes sense, however there are several guidelines and ways of going about it which I am utterly unfamiliar with. Last year, when the SOs mom came to visit from moving back from Central Asia, I asked her to bring me back some fabric prints. She asked me what kinds of fabric I liked and all I could think of was “colourful!” Three 2m pieces cotton linen (I think) blends came my way in medium/large floral and flourish patterns. They are colourful, but not exactly bright… In fact, one of the pieces was almost impossible to imagine making a pretty quilt… but, alas, a shopping trip up to the fabric district of Montreal actually produced a possibility. There is no way a quilting shop would have produced the same result, as I would have been too busy perusing the typically pretty/modern/abstract prints and my favourite colourways. 5 hours making my way up and down St-Hubert street produced only a few little prints of a particularly cool palette (I’m usually a much warmer, much funkier girl when it comes to colours), but all in all was a success. I even found the vinyl I had been craving to make a notebook cover.

Behold the one unredeamable print — redeemed! Dark green with bright yellow flourishes and pink and red flowers. Alone… Ugh, but with some bright solids to offset, I am seeing a very simple quilt top (the top half yellow, a strip or two of pink, then the lower portion in the print) with honeycomb all over quilting. It will be my practice quilt.

The other two prints from Kyrgyztan. My fave is the top one.

Some 1/4 yards found at C&M Fabrics on St-Hubert (4.50$ a yard)

Larger quantities from C&M

An idea for the quilt top using my favourite Kyrgyz print. Not my regular palette, but not so bad.

I wish I had a macro lens, but I’ll have to settle for Photoshop right now.

I think these two together will make a fabulous backside to this quilt. I am so ready to get quilting.

My awesome prototype of a notebook cover. It’s super soft and the magnet closure works quite well, although the pen slit (in the flap) and the flap itself are too small. I added a back ‘pocket’ to insert the smaller Moleskine cahier into, since it’s a touch smaller than the A5 notebooks I’ve been using. And yes, I finally picked up a second ring to bind the notebook.

I’d just like to point out that although not all hand crafts are really that economical in and of themselves (knitting…) they stem from something far richer and rewarding. There was a time when people had to do what we now do for leisure. I COULD create a garment from the fleece (I actually have the know how, which just kind of freaked me out), but I do not yet have to. Why do we craft? Honestly, there is immense satisfaction in creating something by hand. There is creativity and thought and skill and all sorts of stuff rolled up into the process of hand craft. There is tradition as well.

It’s funny, even when I look at my enormous stashes and even larger piles of unfinished objects, I don’t see waste. I don’t even see bad financial planning or waste of money. There is immense value recoverable by my hands right there. Sure, sometimes the easiest thing to do would be to sell it off, give it away, but it keeps the creative juice flowing and provides me with opportunity to think with my hands, challenge myself, create anew.

I’d also like to say something about how we take hand craft for granted. In the economic situation there are a few trains of thought. You could buy from Wal-Mart, but then you’d really just be making the overall situation worst. Sure, they provide jobs… But for the 100 people that operate your local Wal-Mart, 1000s of manufacturing jobs are lost in North America. We could talk about China owning the US, but that’s just another layer. What it comes down to is cheap doesn’t pay. We could use our hard earned dollars to support our own economies. You could go locavore. You could hand knit all of your garments. But that’s all a bit of an exaggeration.

Think about it. In the height of real North American economic stability, we made things. We don’t do that anymore. Not that there’s anything wrong with the intellectual work we do now, except, with all this thinking we’ve exported skills elsewhere that we now lack. With all the intellectual work, we are now paying people to think about how to make more and more money for the higher ups, while basically screwing and dehumanizing the lower ranks. Here’s a case: A friend’s friend works 35 years at a Canadian insurance company. He dedicates his entire career to them and manages to survive three major rounds of layoffs, taking pay cut after pay cut and rebuilding. He has been laid off this year… 2 years prior to his retirement. Somebodies ‘intellectual’ job is to sit there and think of ways to save the corporation money, and that was to give someone a severance now as opposed to his retirement package in two years. Essentially, what I’m saying is: when we think too much, we get out of touch (I should know).

Hand craft is a mark of being capable of doing something again. Even if it’s leisurely, there’s a bit of security knowing that you can feed yourself, clothe yourself and maybe even protect yourself. At an intermediate stage somewhere before the primitive outlook, creating our own luxuries and appreciating the handmade allows us to slow down our consumption at some level and support actually human beings. Every hour I knit is an hour I am content with myself. Everytime I buy handmade or appreciate someone else’s work is me supporting another human being and acknowledging them.

I say hand craft is integral to finding our way out of the dark of these economic storms. It just makes sense. It’s uplifting, human, productive and supportive. My twenty cents.

In fact, the last one I was working on (titled “He’s Fever Boy and I’m Snot Girl”) is now out of date. I still have a runny nose, but no longer a side kick and a Sudafed induced stupor. Since then I have gotten a few things off the ground, including the beginning of a new lace stole pattern, a trip to London, a 30-day hot yoga challenge and my portfolio. Just some of the basics of this busy girls life.

Actually, a good portion of my portfolio is up and running. Check it out here if you’d like. I have to make a banner image for it to put in this here blog. I’d appreciate any feedback you all may have. There are even some shoe concepts that I drew up in Illustrator. I’d have to say I don’t know enough about shoe design or foot anatomy yet to make terribly convincing sketches, but there are some conceptual elements there. This round of sketches, I’d have to say were mostly about having fun and experimenting.

I can’t wait to get to know the process more. I’m taking an intensive workshop with bespoke shoemaker Paul Thomas to make my first pair this June. Planning that trip is as much of an adventure as navigating the insanity of London will be. Through the kind benevolence of the knitting community, I have found some knitters to stay with during my trip. I’m preparing goodie baskets for my hosts as we speak! I’m hoping to visit some of my old friends out there on the weekends as well, and all the coordination is quite complicated, but I have hope it will all come together.

Life is good. So much better than when your sinuses are drowning you or giving you a headache. I’ll try to keep my posts more frequent and up to snuff,

My ponderation is this: If I were to move where I could only take two or three duffel bags (knowing you have to pay for your bags) what would I take? Consider, I am pretty well stocked in the necessities and frivolities of life currently. Any ideas?

Kitchen: If I had good knives, I’d take them. My good frying pan, one good pot to boil things in. Our Bialetti coffee maker.

Bathroom: My irons, my mani/pedi tools (LOL, they weren’t cheap), tweezers, Sonicare, I don’t know about products…

Bedroom: Pillows, a set of sheets, duvet (?)

Living: Well, I’d probably leave most, if not all, of my books :( They’re wonderful, well loved, and pretty well used, but they are heavy and can be shared and bring as much pleasure. My laptop and computer tools, some of my stationary, my fountain pens, the camera.

Clothing: Nothing with holes, tears, rips, stains, missing/broken fittings. So… not much, no, just the basics and my better shoes. Athletic/outdoors gear is a must for optimum preparedness. Nothing that doesn’t fit. Nothing I haven’t worn in 4 years… (that is pretty much the big space saver).

Et cetera: Some photos, some knitting tools. Paintings and portfolio items would have to be shipped to family/friends.

The Project | Public Baths

Let’s go back… Way back, to the Roman Empire and other older civilizations. The goal was to create an urban community centre based around communal bathing. The programmatic requirements were simple: Communal baths featuring hot, warm and cold baths, a swimming pool, public areas, foyer and appropriate amenities and facilitative spaces.A short study of the meaning of communal and non-communal bathing as recreation in various cultures provided us with a basic understanding of the programme.

The Materials | Wood, Stone, Copper

The studio tutors chose these three traditional bathing receptical materials as a further means of pushing the theoretical envelope of the project. We were to draw inspiration and guidance from one of these three as our main material. Tectonically, each would represent a distinct way to build the form and structure (save for copper) of our baths. Theoretically, our understanding of each material would help form various layers of symbolism to originate the project conceptually.

For example: Lee and I received wood as our material. With this, a study of what wood as a material represented (it’s characteristics, it’s symbolism, it’s value, etc) linked with our understanding of the destined programme and site, led us to choose fibre as a primary conceptual notion.

The Site | On the tracks…

A mini-charette was held to decide on a distinct site for each of the materials. In this way, for instance, all people who drew stone as a material would use the same site. Based on an initial investigation of each material, with basic stipulations for location size and urbanism, teams located vacant lots and presented their reasoning for their choice. A considerable amount of shock and awe was used to preclude some of the more sensible and accessible sites, but the final site locations provided plenty of nuances to shade these projects.

The wood site selected was on the side of abandoned railroad tracks in a semi-derelict post-industrial area. Charming. OK, sarcasm aside, the site did grow on me. Visiting abandoned track parking lots in the midst of Montréal’s winter weather was never on my list of exciting day trips. Pulling from the idea of a train station, it’s romanticism, the evident relationship to wood/fibre, the communal and transitional aspects all became really important to our final project.

Les Bains de la Gare | Presentation boards

Les Bains de la Gare | Croquis Écologique

Ecological development exercise for the project. Based on intermediate building concept, but still similar to final form.

Les Bains de la Gare | Maquettes

Small maquette, view from street side.

Small maquette, view from major access point.

Small maquette, view from rail side.

Break-Apart maquette, sans roof.

Break-Apart maquette, lower levels exposed.

Break-Apart maquette, baths exposed (grey is water).

Break-Apart maquette, all the pieces.

The first dilemma is that I am not interested in creating an architecture portfolio. For the time being, I have decided to hold off on applying for further studies in architecture, for which an architecture only/heavy portfolio would be appropriate. I need a different type of portfolio currently.

The last few years, the majority of the work I have invested my time ad energy in has been for school projects. I am, of course, my own very worst critic, but I am not terribly fond of most of my school projects. Therefore, it is very difficult to really present them in a portfolio that is supposed to represent my best work. There are many parts of them that I found very interesting and challenging to these projects, but over all, when I look back at them, there are numerous ways to improve.

And that is the second dilemma, do I redo/augment/solidify/rework these past projects, or just merely let them represent where I was at that particular point in time? It all depends on the type of portfolio. I have great ambitions. In fact, I haven’t had this much motivation and enthusiasm for design since before I entered architecture school (where I shortly realized that maybe I had focused my energies too narrowly, too early). This passion is almost fearsome to me, because it is really the beginning of a new phase of my life barely foreshadowed by previous experiences, but makes perfect sense.

I want to make shoes. Not just design them, but feel them come together in my own hands. I want to understand their physical creation as much as I want to innovate and create beautiful pieces. When I finished high school, I was still under the influence of family history and preparatory school dogma. I didn’t know exactly what I wanted to do, so I picked something practical that I was capable of: Engineering. I love problem solving, I love functionality, but I did not love Engineering. I then went to a summer calculus class at McGill and fell in love with Montréal (in the summer). Since returning to Los Angeles for school in autumn was looking to be less and less advantageous, I moved to Montréal and studied Interior Design, wondering if I had it in me.

And I did. I had never given design a real chance, since it had never appeared to be practical when I was growing up. Design and making things was something I did alone, apart from academia or work. But Interior Design wasn’t satisfying enough. I decided to go into Architecture, believing I would receive a design education that would serve me in any design field, as well as provide me with the base to become a licensed architect if I so chose. It also appealed to the technical part of my personality that enjoys how things work and are put together.

The architecture programme I enrolled in was probably not the best fit for me (I have discussed this a little too thoroughly in my old blog). I did, however, learn amazing things about myself, other people, and architecture. Most importantly, I learned what I did and did not want in a future career. I realized that the only thing that keeps me wanting to burn the midnight oil, faisant les nuits blanches, distracts me from eating and consumes me more than anything else in the world is creating things. I must create. Everything else I do, I do to create, to make. When I analyze, I want to understand how it works so I can build anew. When I take something apart, it is to use that knowledge and materials to create something new.

In many spiritual practices there are three energies: The Creator, the Sustainer and the Destroyer. As individuals we must take on each and every part of the cycle to get through life, but we all seem to identify more strongly with one energy or another. If I had ever thought about that sooner, I would have realize, point blank, that I create.

And why shoes? Honestly, because it fits. If you don’t know the answer to an internal question, you must make one up. There are a multitude of criteria that go into making this decision, and I know it’s the right answer right now, because it’s the first one that has raised my energy levels and inspired my imagination to do what I never thought possible. I have thought of many other design fields that meet my basic criteria, such asjewelry design, furniture design, textile design, graphic design and the whole host of Industrial designs, but nothing has struck that resonant chord like shoes. And now that I have given ample consideration to shoes (the last year at least, letting it ruminate in the back of my mind), I have to be ready to commit.

Let me expand on my basic criteria:

• I get to design things.
• These things are quality, usable items.
• These items will be cherished.
• I will get to make them, not just design and plan them.
• I will create my own line.

Shoes… So now I am on to planning a portfolio to get into my dream school shoe. I’m going to keep some of the details on the hush for a little bit, until I get clearer on them. So, what does an architecture student and knitter put in a portfolio for admissions into a shoe school?? Obviously a bit of both, but obviously a few things related to fashion and shoe design, which means SKETCHING! Which is the plan for the next few weeks, of course. I have so many ideas and concepts that I need to get out of my head and into this portfolio, that I’m not sure how much I’ll be blogging. I also plan to put some better photos of the little crochet accessory  projects I’ve been doing.

They deserve better photography, that’s for sure, but since I’m not my friend Michelle, I’ll just have to figure out a way to shoot these without my goofy mug in an appealing manner. (You’d think I’d be better with a camera, but I’m not). More to follow!

I have retired the contents of the old blog so as to get a fresh start with my new objectives for this one. If you MUST see the old entries, they have been preserved, but you’ll have to send me your e-mail to get the url. For my friends on facebook, the url is posted in my profile.

There are two reasons for this:

1. I now have some specific goals for the site that don’t coincide with those of the old, hence a shift in purpose.
2. At the end of the old lifelikethis, my post frequency was dwindling absurdly. I was going through much turmoil that made me reconsider my life positions and much of my anxious energy was disseminated. I have no desire to propogate anything but productive energy in the new lifelikethis.com

So what are the new objectives for lifelikethis.com? The main goal is to present my creative work, processes and contemplations. I am a recent graduate and am embarking on new territory in defining my future career. I have high ambitions, and am at the crossroads where I need to pick a field of interest and invest my energy in developing those skills before I can truly begin a career.

Initially, when I went back to school, I figured I would find my niche, but never did. I have some ideas of what I would like to pursue, but have not refined them. So lifelikethis.com will now be a blog about my development on my creative journey, in exploration, but also in refinement. I hope to present a form of a portfolio here, as well as other things that influence my life. This blog shall carry much more professional discourse, and less whining than the old blog.

À bientôt, J