IMA

Last night I went to the annual meeting of the Horticultural Society at the Indianapolis Museum of Art (IMA). I had some time between work and the meeting, so I visited some of my favorite things.

In most of the museum, you can't take photographs, but here's a photo of my favorite painting from their website. It's by Georges Seurat, and the frame is a stunning bright cobalt. (The frame is actually not original, but that's beside the point.) I love pointilism.

I also visited the contemporary design galleries. You know how sometimes you see something and it immediately feels like home? That happens for me here.

I'm fairly sure every wall would benefit from a bookcase like this:

My favorite design piece is this:

Tejo Remy's "You Can't Lay Down Your Memories" 

Chest of Drawers

If money were no object, I'd have someone build one of these for me. I adore it.

The IMA has been making big changes, and I'm not in favor of some of them. Still, I love the museum. Their Ravine Garden is one of my favorite places in the world. (I posted about one visit here if you'd like to see more photos.) The grounds of the museum are stunning, and that's typically where I spend my time. It was good last night to wander around the main museum building and get reacquainted with these pieces that feel like old friends.

Simple projects

I have been knitting, but it hasn't been anything earth-shattering. It's just been easy projects I can do while reading or watching telly.

Slipped Ribs (made up--see below)

knit in Knitpicks' Felici yarn, Goth colorway 

(discontinued, because they are morons)

I did those in my usual 64 stitch rounds with the cuff as 1x1 rib and the leg and top of foot as 3x1 rib. Whenever I had a color change, I did one round of k1, sl1 to make the stripes jagged instead of perfectly straight. I did the short-row heel because I have realized how much I like preserving the stripes. I still hate trying to get the waste yarn out and stitches back on needles for the heel, but it's worth it for self-striping yarn.

Probably.

Cosmic Ribs (mine ravelled here),

knit in Miss Babs Cosmic Hand Painted Sock, Across the Universe colorway

These are for Andrew, knit in yarn he picked out while high on wool fumes at Simply Sock. I'm not in love with them, but I am in love with Andrew. It's my usual ribbed pattern, but with a heel flap this time 'cause who the fuck can see the heel anyway?

Rosa rubiginosa mitts (mine ravelled here),

knit in Knitpicks' Chroma fingering, Morning Mist colorway 

This time it's just the color that's been discontinued, not the entire yarn. (I'm glad I didn't know that before I started knitting.) I used almost all the leftover yarn from Andrew's Ribbed for His Pleasure hat. I feel like it should be documented that I had enough leftover yarn to actually make something useful. I thought being able to find uses for scrap yarn that didn't include "franken" in the title was a myth, like delicious fat free cheese and people not oversharing on Facebook.

These are the third pair of mitts I've made of these pattern (here). A friend's sister-in-law saw one of the green pairs and requested a purple pair for herself, and so I made these for the friend to give to her sister-in-law (a bit convoluted, but hopefully you know what I mean). I didn't feel right charging because a) friend, and b) leftover yarn, so said friend is going to take a pair of my shoes and get them shined by her magic shoe shine guy near her work. The barter system is alive and well.

Besides knitting, I've been doing a lot of reading (fluff) and playing outside in my yard.

And... if I'm honest, there's been some time when I've felt a lot like Nocturne and just wanted to snuggle up in a blanket cave.

That cat's no dummy.

Say What? Embroidery

The Universe has been crapping on some of my friends recently, including Emily. I asked her partner what I could send to cheer her up, and he said she wanted stuff for their new house, including a sign for their bathroom:

Please do not do cocaine in my bathroom.

Emily obviously understands that sometimes it's awkward to have to tell your guests in person, and this is a more delicate way to ensure you don't have pesky white powder to clean out of your grout.

Emily had also recently had a moving spiritual experience which needed to be documented in every medium possible. I did my part:

I am calm and floating...

Another friend will get:

I do not spew profanities. I enunciate clearly, like a fucking lady.

I stitched all of these on cotton dishtowels that I cut to size. I found that neither carbon nor transfer pens showed up very well on this material, which was challenging. I ended up with a faint hint of the design to follow on the material itself and used it and the paper pattern beside me to figure out where the letters went and how they were shaped.

Even though my stitches certainly are not perfect, I am happy to be able to make something with my hands. Every stitch is a physical reminder to my friends that I care about them enough to spend hours out of my life making them things.

I might not be able to fix everything that's wrong, but I can make stuff, and that is no small thing.

Make on.

Grandfather's Columbine

Dear Grandfather,

Remember that columbine beside your patio? No, I didn't imagine you would. I don't remember it either. The last day I was at your house, getting the final few things I wanted and wondering how the hell I was supposed to live in a world without you, I saw a beautiful blooming columbine. It wasn't obviously part of a flowerbed, and I don't remember ever seeing it before, but there it was, bright and beautiful, slightly scraggly and wild-looking.

I dug it up, put it in a bucket, and brought it home with me.

This is not its first summer at my house, and it has never bloomed like it is blooming now. Maybe it's happy I moved that boxwood that was crowding it. Maybe the weather's been different in some way from past springs (besides the pollen--you would not believe my allergies this year; it's like nature is trying to kill me). I don't know. I just know that it's full of blooms and it is beautiful and I miss you.

I miss you a lot.

Love,
Bonnie