26 November, 2009
20 November, 2009
Leading this piece: Day 2
Sorry, but y’all are getting a play-by-play on this window’s construction, whether you like it or not. ‘Cause shit’s simply too riveting to keep to myself, obvs.
I think I’m getting into the swing of things, now: all that’s new since yesterday I did in about four hours. It’s a shame I probably won’t have time to get all of the lead cut before I leave for the States (Thanksgiving, Canadians. The real one). Maybe if I really apply myself, but it seems unlikely.
Also, when I call the process “medieval,” I’m really not joking. The tools I’ve got to work with are like Old-assed Yankee Workshop meets The Craft. That handsome thing there is what I use to cut all the lead came, since dykes (that’s what the special tinsnips are called) mangle the wide lead I’m using past the point of no return.
The real setback I’ve been facing has been the lead itself. I need 3/8″ came (I don’t know why it’s called “came,” but it is) to get the look of the window I’m reproducing (this is quite wide, especially for a piece this size—it’s only two feet square), and the one stained glass supply store in town (that I know of, though it is, conveniently, only about three blocks from our house) only carries a lead/zinc alloy in that width. All that means is that the came is super, super hard compared to 100% lead, and cutting it with that stupid little hand tool is not fun.
Also, I’m not doing a terribly good job, so far (chalk it up to a “learning experience”). That gap there? It shouldn’t be there. If I tried to solder that joint, the solder will pull in on itself in a really unattractive way. Conventional wisdom is that I need to re-cut that piece to fit exactly (I probably will for this particular joint, since it’s an easy, straight cut) or cut a tiny piece of came to fill the gap, but I think I can cheat a bit. (It’s worth noting that, if I’ve learned nothing from both renovating the basement at cam’s house and doing this [and, apparently, I haven't] it’s that the reason nobody else has come up with your own particular, genius quick-fix solution is because they have, and it doesn’t work. Like at all). I think that if I copper-foil the exposed areas, I should be able to solder over the gap. Because the came is so rigid, this window is going to be inde-fucking-structable, anyway, so a few weak joints aren’t going to be an issue.
Now wait for that to not work. Like at all.
Making Things
Give Thanks (2005). See, everything about this seems inevitable to me. Like of course someone needed to take a display box from Value Village, line it with fluorescent stretch-velvet, fill it with neon aquarium gravel, and mount a ten-dollar black light from Spencer’s Gifts overtop of it. And of course it would be a piece “about” Thanksgiving 2005. It all seems so obvious.
Commemorate.
Untitled (Big Sur).
I don’t know what the title for the windows is going to be, yet, but can I just say that lead came stained glass is exceedingly difficult? Like, I want to apologize to all of the other finnicky, medieval processes I’ve used, because this one is the finnickiest and most medieval so far.
And just for the hell of it I crocheted a snowflake and used it as a substrate for growing salt crystals.
12 November, 2009
Untitled (Big Sur) (in progress)
Yeah, yeah. I know. First the CUPE signs and now this. Because you just know these are going to get defaced somehow.
Blah blah blah “Is nothing sacred to you?” blah blah. In a word: No. Nothing is sacred to me, and memorializing war and the people who make it is pretty far down on my list of hypothetical candidates. THAT SAID: all of these were either (a) taken in exchange for a [voluntary] donation to the Legion or (b) found discarded or dropped. And I didn’t even take any from the WWI memorial at the Legislature grounds, even though they were just sitting there and nobody was looking*. Because I know how people in this country get about these things (which, P.S., is super-weird to me still).
Anyway. I’m going to cover them all in lead white oil ground and paint them orange.
—
* Around the memorial is maybe another story, but whatever. They would have been vacuumed up by the groundskeepers in about 37 seconds if I hadn’t interceded.
31 October, 2009
16 October, 2009
Mise en abîme
Forged documentation of a piece consisting of… forged documentation of a piece. It’s enough to make even me feel dizzy.
14 October, 2009
8 October, 2009
Cempasúchil (Marigold) Garland
I started crocheting this last year, and I’m determined to finish it in time for Halloween, this year (I obviously haven’t been working on it continuously). It’s a garland of Mexican marigolds (cempasúchil), a traditional Day of the Dead decoration. Crocheted, it works as a garland or a particularly ridiculous scarf.
I’ve included a pattern of sorts below; I figure that someone on the Internet, somewhere, might appreciate it. Bear in mind, though, that I freehand everything I crochet (with the exception of, like, granny squares or whatever), so the pattern is really just a rough guide. I think the garland looks quite a bit better for having variation not only in the number of petals on each flower (the pattern has a total of 20 petals, starting with a row of six, but I’ve made some with twice that many, some with fewer) but also with regard to the color and weight of yarn used, hook size, etc.
For the main stem, I started by crocheted a narrow tube (see second photo), but this year decided that a spool-knit tube would look nicer (top photo, lefthand side) (it does) (no, I’m not going to replace the crocheted length I’ve already finished). Some of the flowers are sewn directly to that tube, but for most of them I crocheted a short stem directly into the back of the flower.
Anyway, I’ve never attempted to write out a pattern before, so here goes nothing.
Round 1: (can be worked in stem [green] or main [yellow-orange] color) Work 6 single crochet stitches into a “magic ring” (Googling it, if need be), join.
Roud 2: Chain eight. Starting in the third chain from the hook, work 2 double crochet stitches, then 2 half-double crochet stitches, then 2 single crochet stitches (one in each chain). Slip stitch into next single crochet stitch and repeat.
Subsequent rounds: Refer to top right of the diagram. Work into the stitches between the petals made in Round 2. You may work either in a spiral, continuously, or you can join with a slip stitch after each round before continuing. If joining, make sure to skip one space to account for the decreased number of petals. After a few rounds, you’ll probably have a bit of a jumbled mess; this isn’t, in and of itself, a problem. Just keep adding shorter and shorter petals until you have what seems like enough.
Final round: After completing the last of the petals, break the yarn and either slip stitch or weave the end through the remaining spaces between the petals. Pull the yarn end tightly through to the back and tie to the original tail.
The leaves should be pretty self-explanatory (they’re long and pointy). You can play around with working them in multiple rows, making them longer or shorter, etc.
Scarf?
