History Book and Balloons

Ack. Grad school. So many rewards, so little time to think about what they will be! I have been MIA, working on this costume. The History Book. It's for a great new play called Ashes, Ashes. It is a children's play, geared towards middle school age, but I feel that it really addresses all ages above that as well. It was workshopped at the New Works Festival last year.

Anyway, I am tailoring this suit. Thank goodness for my experience this summer at the Santa Fe Opera. Otherwise, I would be constantly returning to my tailoring notes from last year to remind myself how these things come together. Instead, I'm enjoying all the tedious hand sewing with confidence. Tailoring is a step by step process that I find really rewarding.
Sorry for the sideways picture. I forgot to export it before posting it, but I've got to get posted an back to work since tech is tomorrow! What's going on in this you ask? I am tailor basting horsehair and flannel to a 30 foot long tail that hangs off the left side of the coat. The tail on the right is only 6 feet. Oh, and they both get "ripped" off the coat at the end of the end of the play. All I can say is MAGNETS.






Another added bonus to this project? I had to teach myself how to screen print in order to print this writing all over the suit. I built five screens and used a photo sensitive emulsion fluid to burn the image. Making the screens and exposing them is an entire other story that I am not going to go into. Trust me, you don't really want to hear it all. I will tell you that at one point there were tears and a deep sense of failure. Then I got some assistance and once I felt amply supported in the endeavor things got better and everything worked out in the end.
WaaLa! Screens and printed fabric! It is going to be a fantastic portfolio piece and despite the screen fiasco I am really pleased with how well it is turning out.













And for your viewing pleasure, some sights from the Albuquerque Balloon Fiesta. This is the top of the club balloon, Windswept. It is really a very very pretty balloon.











And of course our fantastic friends from Deutschland were there! It was so wonderful to see Harry and Astrid again. I hope to get back to their side of the ocean sometime in the future.

But first I have to finish the History Book.
Tschuss

Layover schmayover...

I am in Oklahoma City. It is not yet 10am. I arrived here at 8am from an early morning flight out of Austin. My flight for Albuquerque departs at 2pm. LAYOVER!

Layovers are not always bad. I have plenty of reading to do. I have a design assignment that references Flannery O'Connor's short stories, so I have brought this book along. And clearly, I have gone so far as to pay for the Wifi here at OKC.




I am going to Albuquerque to meet up with my parents and our friends from Germany to fly and crew and most likely partake in alcoholic beverages of the beer nature. Fly as in hot air ballons. Ya'll may recall that my dad is a pilot. These are the German friends that my dad met at the Albuequerque International Balloon Fiesta some 6 years ago. I had the joy of meeting them on the trip I took with my dad to their neck of the woods. Anyway, since I'll be in New Mexico with Germans, I figured it was pretty safe to let my inner geek shine through and bust out the sandals with handknit socks look. As for my parents, they have to love me regardless of how dorky I am.

We all know that layovers are also great for knitting! This is the Adamas shawl that I am knitting for the big sister. The yarn is Jaeger Alpaca 4-ply, and the color is actually black even though it is showing up grey in the sunlight here.

The next post will be all about ballooning. Brace yourselves for color!
Tschuss!

I'm still standing...

Well, I made it through the first week of life after saying goodbye to Remus (see previous post). I'm still standing. Yesterday we went to Home Depot and picked out some sage bushes, a plumbago, and some succulents to plant on his final resting spot. Thanks to the rocky nature of central Texas soil we were able to collect plenty of rocks to landscape the area. As the plants grow he'll be with us. We're happy with how it turned out.




It hasn't been all tears though. The Friday evening prior to that fateful day I had my first fitting for my show project this semester, and it went just about as well as I could have hoped for. Last Wednesday I also had a large project due in Design Studio and I managed to get it finished on time and was complimented for my strong work on it.

I also finished this pair of socks over the weekend. They are a commissioned pair for a colleague's mother. They will be a birthday present. The yarn is some that I bought in Germany - I forget the brand name, but I remember I bought it in a stationary shop, and it is named for a province in Canada.

What is this you ask? This is my grieving yarn. There is a new yarn shop in Austin called Gauge Knits which That Guy took me to yesterday. It may seem silly, but yarn is a great comfort to me. I always try to visit yarn shops while on vacation and inevitably purchase some souvineer yarn. When I do get around to making something from it I remember when and where I bought it and the memories associated with it.

In this case, I think I will make a mobius type scarf out of this lovely stuff. When it gets chilly (for all of two days here) I will wear it and think of my Reemy. It is handspun by Robincat.etsy.com, whom I hear is a local Austinite. So cool, and I love her bird label also.

Tschuss!