The magnolia tree is changing by the hour. I suspect it will only be a week now before I won’t be able to see out the window.
It’s just Habib and I today. He’s doing an awesome job of keeping me company while I work through this pile of production knitting. I will be having my walk a bit later. There’s no way this sunny day is getting away from me. (no matter how much work I have to do).
Enjoy the sunshine.
After a week of hush, hush knitting I have completed my order for the film company. Working for the film was an amazing and somewhat stressful experience. Everything is to deadline for shooting and when deadlines aren’t met, money is lost–so chop, chop.
I realize that this does not fit into my fun –hey let’s knit on the mountains–style, but you need to shake things up once in a while and in THIS case, I did enjoy the challenge of knitting to someone else’s vision.
What I can say…..
I knit 5 hats.
It is a feature film.
I had to deliberately knit mistakes into the hat.
I will be doing more film and costume work as a result of this commission. It is amazing what different directions your business and life can take if you are open to them. Last year I posted that under no circumstances would I take on custom work and that I was only going to do what I wanted.
Putting that statement in writing almost had the fibre universe challenging me.
Universe – “under no circumstances, Carmen?
Me- “definitely not, I’m doing my own thing universe”.
Universe- “so if I told you that Jesus needed a custom shroud for his return to earth you would not knit it?”
Me- “not a chance, universe, I work for myself”
Universe- “okay then, so you don’t want to meet this film industry heavy who can put your work on the map?”
Me -” umm, err, well, one commission can’t hurt—-feature film you say, with handsome star who I adore….umm, err…..okay, just this once”.
So, I have broken my own rule, buckled under, and basically have whored myself out for the potential fibre fame. I would be ashamed, if I wasn’t so star struck and exhilarated right now.
Sandi picked up the hats last night and said they were bang on to the director’s vision. I am thrilled.
Back to production for next months show (wherein Pearl and I will probably be knitting on a mountain or at Prospect Point. The view is fantastic.
It have decided that I no longer “do” free form crochet. The connotation is a bit more dated than I like. It evokes large scrumbles and those weird corkscrew tassles and that’s just not how this girl rides….so based on the inspiration of a button that Pearl gave me the other day……..
I now am a subversive crochet gal. It suits the work better. It is anti the granny style, slicker and yippee…I am feeling some real subversive coming on.
With Pearl at the helm, it was time to leave paradise and head back to the Vancouver. The Sea to Sky corridor is a visually stunning drive.
We had joked about me spinning in the mountain, but the “extra”snow made that option a bit prohibitive. We busied ourselves with the multitude of knitting that we brought with us and the wheel never left the van.
As we chatted further along our trek, I lamented about how I didn’t manage to squeeze in the mountain spinning time. Pearl offered an awesome alternative…..”what about Shannon Falls?” We had just hit Squamish at the time(about half way home)…Awesome.
So we parked in the Provincial Parking Lot and made our way into the park and picked a lovely spot beside a creek in full view of the falls.
This batt was wonderful to spin. Alpaca, silk, silk noil, dyed wensleydale locks, natural romney locks and a bit of angelina made for a lovely skein. I spun for an hour while Pearl worked on her new raglan sweater. The sound of the falls created a lovely soundtrack, the falls themselves an even better backdrop. Satisfied that we had accomplished all of our goals of the trip, we headed back for the car, wheel and supplies in tow.
Today, I have to buckle down and finish the film hats. I got the final go ahead for the remaining two and I’m excited to have these things made by my hands on the big screen.
Well that’s a wrap.
Okay, not roaring, it’s hard to attend to the fire while you are cooking dinner, knitting and crocheting all at the same time. We had a fantastic outing and then back to the homestead. Snow that was melting only a day ago was piling up on the roof slopes. I want to stay here forever.
We headed into town for some groceries as well and stopped at Blenz (Canadian owned) for some wonderful coffee and the barristas managed to pull together a fairly fancy birthday dessert for my best bud Pearl.
It was plenty cold, my sad sack, crocheted in 45 minutes hat was not quite cutting it, and then the great mitten continuum rewarded me for my patience. And the embarrassment of my super quick fuggly hat. What a waste of good hand dyed silk/wool blend. However the fabulous suede mitts laying in a snowbank were a welcome gift from the accessory goddess. (now drying by the fire)
Thanks to JP, I was able to try out the amazing dinner he cooked for John and I. Not bad, Pearl hasn’t keeled over and there seem to be leftovers ;).
We’ve managed to get a real manly fire going (finally). Now I can sit with my new project for the evening. I’m in love with this silk/wool blend, so I’m expecting an all nighter.
Have a great knit night all.
Looking out the window this morning, I knew I was in exactly the right place, with the right people. It’s Pearl’s birthday and we are having our knitting extravaganza marathon. Oddly enough I forgot to bring a hat, so I am furiously crocheting one now so we can head out soon as walk through this lovely forest of white.
The movie hats are a go. And I have finished two of them already. It has been a serious challenge for me requiring a skill that I have never exhibited (it’s a long story). In the meantime the snow is falling, my utility hat is partially complete and the Pike’s Place coffee is a’ calling.