Wednesday, January 20, 2016

Yarny Hearts and Mail-Art

Ever since last week I've been excited and eager to share my newest book acquisition:  A Weird Unfathomable Ordinary Everyday Life by William Bridges and Dianne Jenkins.   I attended an Author Talk at the library last Thursday evening - very spur of the moment, and I'm so glad I spurred myself to go!

William (Bill) Bridges is a retired Writing professor, journalist, book editor, poet...and I'm sure I don't know what all else he's done in his lifetime.  And while I'm not sure what all Dianne Jenkins has done in her lifetime, in the pages of this book she is an artist.  In 2006 Bill and Dianne began a snail mail correspondence with each other.  Their correspondence over the years consisted (still consists, I imagine) of everyday kind of things.  Paragraphs telling what their days are like, interjected with simple everyday kind of observations - out the window, or at the beach earlier in the day...  Bill and Dianne sprinkled their letters with witticisms and wisdom.  The words alone are a delight to read, but Dianne, being an artist, and having enjoyed mail-art for years, turned her letters into works of art.  Which, I believe, was the impetus for Bill getting the great idea of turning their correspondence into a book! 

The book has many examples of the mail art Dianne sent, and many, many excerpts from both of their letters over the years.  It's a book to savor - both the words and pictures.  So I'll be savoring it for a while and delighting in their clever, sometimes weird, totally fathomable, everyday lives, and Dianne's very clever, sometimes weird, almost always funky artwork.


AND I've begun to turn my heart toward Valentine's Day.  I know it's a few weeks off, but, of course if you're crafting for a holiday you've got to begin early, right?  I came across this granny heart pattern on Ravelry and while I don't know what I'm ultimately going to do with any that I make, I'm "all in", "head over heels" in love with making some hearts this week.  Pictured here is my first one made in Hobby Lobby's I Love This Cotton yarn.  ILTC yarn is a light (almost sport-weight) worsted 100% cotton - that I normally reserve for dishcloth making, but today it seems perfect for this project..  Love!

To see what other yarnies and readers are up to, visit Ginny Sheller's Yarn Along by clicking the graphic below.

http://www.gsheller.com/category/yarn-along


14 comments:

  1. crafting is fun! you make beautiful things! that book if fascinating! wow!

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  2. Love the heart - you can make some fun decorations with that.
    Have fun!
    Jenn. @jennscraftyworld

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  3. Such gentle colors for your beautiful crochet heart! It will be a very special project!

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    1. I'm winging the colors, Alina. I'm thinking they look better than I hoped they would. ;^)

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  4. I thought about come Valentine's Day crochet...BRIEFLY. I already have 2 afghans in the works with 2 more that I planned but need to buy yarn for, and 3 toddler hats for my pastor's grandkids. Phew! I'm usually a ONE project crocheter! You know...you could put 2 of the squares together and make a pouch to hold some special sweet goodies to give to friends or family...

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    1. Thanks, Jessy. I like the idea of making a little pouch. I'm collecting ideas for how to use these as I'm hosting a CAL on Sunday with this pattern. I'm going to try making it larger with thicker cotton and seeing if it's large enough for a hotpad (or even a dishcloth).

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  5. Beautiful colors! Thank you for the idea - I think this will be how I make my valentines this year :)

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    1. Wouldn't these make sweet Valentines? Thanks, Michelle!

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  6. Oh that heart is just lovely. Thanks for sharing the link to the pattern. I wonder how it would look in #10 cotton and if I could then use it as a tag to denote the wrong side of a shawl that I just made? I'll have to try it :-)

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    1. This could be made with any weight thread or yarn, I'm sure. A small heart would sure make a pretty tag. And a super sweet touch.

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  7. Oh that books sounds interesting! Will add to my list. Love your heart too.

    Zoe | floral and feather

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  8. That is a very sweet crochet project!

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