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By doriluthy, January 8, 2010 4:24 pm

I love hand knits on babies… No, I LOVE them! I take this obsession quite seriously folks- I think it’s because pretty much every yarn looks like a chunky knit on a baby- and who doesn’t love chunky knits!? The problem is that it takes me YEARS to make a chunky knit garment for an adult. But for a 9 week old baby boy who loves to suck on his fist? About 1/2 day (in between feeding, diapers, and playtime, of course!)

It happened yesterday, innocently enough, when I was overcome with the overwhelming urge to swaddle my son in knits. I was sitting on the #19 bus, heading to the aquarium for our weekly sit and watch the beluga whales session, with Finn happily sleeping in the sling, when the bus went right by my favourite fabric store. This itself is not a big deal, as it is on the route of course. But when I saw a woman walking out of the door with a giant bag of wools (who wouldn’t want an entire bag full of wools at $1.99/skein!!) I immediately, and definitely impulsively, pulled the cord to stop the bus, jumped off and made a bee-line for Dressew. Sometimes a person is just SO overtaken with the desire to finger yarn and swish sticks in the creation of a wearable garment. Or at least that’s my explanation for what came over me!

I grabbed a skein of velvet mossy green Nashua, #8 needles, and walked back out the door just in time to hop on the next bus. I had about 20 minutes to cast on and rally up a few rows. And before I knew it, Finn’s little scarf was taking shape! The rest of the day was spent working on the little tiny project, and it’s just divine!

Ahhh… that should quench the desire for a few days! (I also have 2 wee sweaters in the works right now, spring wear for my little man- with only a little sleeve work left to finish, stay tuned!)

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By doriluthy, August 16, 2009 7:21 pm

Hi all, finally got my Etsy shop setup with my jewelry!

Click on the button below- and I would love any feedback!

Just a reminder, here’s my jewelry website: www.daldesigns.ca

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By doriluthy, June 15, 2009 3:26 pm

I’m back from Lasqueti Island, fully relaxed and feeling (as to be expected) more pregnant than ever! The gals commented as we boarded the ferry to come back to Vancouver on Saturday afternoon- “Dori, you’ve grown!” Hmm… yes… Well, I think that after an ocean view week of art making and loving conversations with 4 other amazing talented women artists, the growing happened more than just in my belly.

Here’s some highlights from the trip:

The cabin we stayed at was at CY’s mum’s place, and the garden was filled with the biggest and most fragrant roses I’ve ever seen…

One day while out exploring, we found a huge colony of star-fish practicing their afternoon yoga:

Sunset on Lasqueti, taken from Boot point.

The oldest arbutus tree on Lasqueti- giving it a hug, I could hardly get my arms halfway around it’s base… It’s a biggie!

Unexpected beauty emerges from the simplest ingredients:

Raiding mother’s closet to play dress-up:

And now back home, I dragged D-man to the big Hawk’s street garage sale yesterday and found my dream table! Solid wood, round, with an extra leaf. As you can see I’ve already made it my own… My piles of stuuf spread fast and furious onto unused surfaces. Oh- here’s the yarn from the above photo in progress, and I see my belly made an unexpected appearance in the photo:

Pregnostic update: I’m officially 20 weeks, which means I’m halfway through the journey. Which actually means very litte, considering I’ve got quite a bit more growing of this Peanut. Just seemed significant the other day when I announced it to a friend “I’m halfway there!”… Not sure if that’s a feeling of victory or just a statement of condition- but as I feel challenged most days of my life- why does time go so fast? I’m enjoying the growing belly, the wiggly kidlet, and friendly smiles from other mothers, oh so very much.

Peanut, I’m already missing this special time together.

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By doriluthy, December 19, 2007 7:31 pm

“Every thing you own takes energy away from you.” (Paul Graham)

I found this great article about stuff… I recommend reading it. It seems fitting, what with Christmas in less than 1 week- and it’s a good way to start a discussion about my withdrawal from the traditional American/Canadian obligatory stuff exchange that accompanies this holiday.

I grew up in, and also married into, tight-knit households that cherish Christmas as a highly celebrated event. The first year or two after we moved to Vancouver away from our South Dakota families, I tried to recreate a version of Christmas in our small urban apartment, but it never felt quite right. There just wasn’t enough belief behind the actions… I am a believer in the Oneness of Humankind but I simply have decided to stop celebrating Christmas- or the version I knew as a child- in my own household. I still put up a tiny tree and some twinkle lights, but mostly out of habit and to give a little festive feel to our dark apartment (this choice and the motivation behind it seems to have more in common with Solstice celebrations than Christian).

About 4 years ago I stopped sending out a mass mailing of Christmas cards to everyone I knew. Instead, in the few days that we have off over the winter break, I sit down and make about a dozen ‘winter greetings’ cards that I put my time and love into creating, and I send only to a few relatives/friends. The list gets to be very short when you are hand-making the cards. VERY SHORT. So here’s my criteria for sending a card- do I correspond with this person throughout the rest of the year by snail-mail? And/or is this someone who will truly appreciate a handmade card? (Great Aunt Flory) HEY, don’t take it personally if you don’t get a card from me.

I’ve also slowly been checking myself out of the obligatory gift giving that accompanies the Christian holiday, and after a few years of this, no-one has yet commented on my lack of giving… (Like my card list, my gift giving list is also very short.) If I want to give a gift or send a card, I first have to make the CHOICE to do so. And I appreciate this as an opportunity to exchange a meaningful gift with mother-in-law or dear friend.

If I chose to give gifts, (and yes, I occasionally recycle gifts- things I know other people will appreciate more than me) I sincerely hope that the object will add to the quality of life of the individual who is receiving it AND, if possible, the maker of the gift. I am more likely to purchase something if I can shake the hand of the person who made it. The positive affects of spending $20 on a mug from a craft fair will touch the potter in your community MUCH more directly than buying a $5 mug from Walmart that is mass produced in China. Sure, the direct cost out of my pocket is more, but I’d much rather pay more for something handmade knowing that the value to my community is much greater. Supporting our local creative economy and sharing a bit of handmade quality with someone we care for- now that is the gift that keeps on giving.

Ciao.

Why we need to reassess how/why/what we give: Story of Stuff

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By doriluthy, January 4, 2007 7:36 pm

Is it already Thursday? (i’m still in Vancouver till Sunday)

Wow- self employment is pretty fun ’so far’. I’ve been working away on a business plan, searching out galleries, planning, plotting, and all around getting excited for the upcoming year. I think i’ve figured out what a strategy pyramid is, and am starting to see the differences between cash flow and profits. I feel like i’m doing a mini-MBA. (mini-mini.)

Oh there seems like so much to do besides just make art! How do the successful artists get around to doing all the business as well as time in the studio? I guess part of this big life project is working more on time management skills. My hope is to get my business structure/plan in place in the next 2 weeks so when i return from Oregon, i can start following a schedule of tasks, organization, and to-do lists. What tasks are important, and when? What order do i need to do things? How much good work do i need before I apply to a gallery? All these questoins and more are hanging out… and under Dustin’s advice, i am writing down everything. He got me a wiki to do all of my planning on- isn’t that awesome?

In case I never mentioned it before- i love being organized. i absolutely thrive on it. i actually start to go crazy without enough structure/schedule/organization. When i feel like life is going too fast to be organized, i start to get little panic attacks. If enough days in a row go by with lack of sleep, running around, no lists! to guide me, i will get so overwhelmed i just start to withdraw. (I know at least one other person reading this who is nodding her head in understanding. hey ‘lissa)
Now, i don’t think there is partculary anything wrong with this way of operating in the world, obviously i’ve done it quite well for the past 28 years. But what i am worried about is can this slightly obsessive behavior find me so reigned in on lists and tasks that i forget that the important part is to make art, have fun, be creative. Speaking of being creative- I have been so inspired lately by some beautiful blogs- Little Birds, Heather, Alicia (I adore her work!), and of course Claire (a favorite). They inspire me to look at the beautiful, simple things in life, to release control a little bit, and relax. (a common theme in artists blogs!) It isn’t too hard, i guess? The more I read about their projects, the more i feel compelled to make beautiful things right now- to make for the sheer joy and delight of ruffles, lacy things, tiny things, red things… These are delights i haven’t felt since i was a little girl!! I tried making my life simple and plain for a long while. As someone who travelled and moved alot in life, it was important to keep things simple, mostly because it’s hard to “control” alot of stuff, but the femininity/old world attractions started about a year ago when i began wearing wool skirts.
Another thing these ladies and their blogs also help me to consider is my position as an artist/craftperson. There has been a real stigma in the art world directed at crafty makers and crafty objects- questions about object use VS. object meaning- questions that have inverably separated the use and the meaning because of how and why they were made… Things i don’t fully understand, and have strange feelings about- but me? I am SO attracted to handmade things. I want to make and have and surround myself with quality that only a human hand can apply. There is something very appealing about the quality and method of how objects are made that represent a different time and value for what the hands were capable of producing.
Oh, I just want to make. Excuse me now, I thing I’ll go make a list!