Present Joys

Two weeks ago, I wrote a little about my burgeoning senior thesis project. Since then, I’ve purchased a gently-used knitting machine from VonStrohm, a very cool woolen mill and yarn store about 25 miles south of Columbus. On the day I picked up my machine, I spent a few hours in the shop with Toia Rivera-VonStrohm learning the basics of machine knitting and talked with her about the logistics of my project. It’s looking like I’ll be able to purchase yarn from VonStrohm, which they’ll spin and dye especially for me. If that works out, it’d be great.

I brought the machine home and set it up in my work room. It is like an archaic, enigmatic monster. Besides the few hours of lessons at VonStrohm, I’ve been reading a few books about machine knitting (as well as the owner’s manual) and learning what I can from YouTube. I reworked my generic sweater vest pattern for the machine and knit up a quick vest—the first actual garment I’ve made with the machine! It all went okay. But I still have not tried tackling colorwork and that will be a big challenge.

What’s next?

I have a lot of practicing to do until I’m comfortable with the knitting machine. Only when I’m comfortable will I have the knowledge to finalize my garment pattern and start production work.

Besides that, I still need to figure out what else I’m going to make! What is this brand going to be about? What else will I create? I still need to talk to some of the CCAD old-guard and dig through old photos in the Archives. This project has got to be more than a sweatshop! I’d love to document this whole process through video, so I also need to find somebody to help me with that. There is a lot to think about…

Day 72: tue, 11 feb 2014. Visiting Ian in his fine arts studio space, a place I don’t usually set foot in.

Day 71: mon, 10 feb 2014. Haley concentrates hard during motion graphics—but she ain’t concentratin’ on motion graphics!

Monday afternoon in Motion Graphics, I made a 2½-D animation based on an old photo from Portfolio class. That was it. That’s all I did for three hours (besides a quick visit to the jewelry lab). After that, I drove a few blocks to the Arena District to see the Hold Steady. It was great, but the whole monday concert thing really threw me off.

After four and a half hours of sleep and a harrowing tuesday morning in jewelry, I had a very nice friendship lunch, followed by a busy, action-packed Senior Ad and a boring History of 2-d Design.

Despite getting a ton of snow tuesday night, CCAD didn’t cancel school on wednesday. Thankfully, my Motion Graphics teacher emailed us around noon to tell us not to come in. This was very good, because it took me 45 minutes to dig my car out of the snow and I didn’t really want to do to school anyway. I did a little homework and a lot of knitting.

Thursday tried my patience from the moment I pulled in the parking lot. We had an endless crit in jewelry regarding our current project (which I’m really not into), which left little time to actually do anything. Thankfully, I had a relaxing lunch in the library before heading back into battle for Senior Ad. It’s not that I don’t love that class—it’s just tough lately because we are all in the crucial middle stage of the project where everybody is stressed about following through with a strong concept. My team is a little behind, so that makes everything tougher. The school week finished with a “review session” in History of 2-d Design—we have a test next week—which was painful to sit through, largely because none of my classmates understand basic serif classifications. Ahh! After class, I had to dig my car out of its parking space with my boot in order to leave. That, too, was pretty rough. But then the week was finished.

Day 70: thu, 6 feb 2014. The library is a cozy place at lunchtime.