Getting Your Frida On

She's back. She, being Frida Kahlo, is back in fashion as a fashion trend and, while normally I'd have something to say about super-saturating pop culture with a particular artists' image while ignoring their art (i.e. Warhol, Van Gogh....), I'm actually sort of pleased that she's as much a fashion icon as she is an iconic artist. While she had a very tragic life, it's true, I reject the notion that that is solely why she painted herself with such dramatic flair or why she painted herself so often, though. Let's face it, there's more than just a touch of the melodrama about her. A passive/aggressive sort that would make any husband think twice before asking for a divorce.

The One and Only

But that not withstanding, a girl doesn't adorn museum walls full of her deepest,darkest moments, in pose, without being pretty darn sure of how fabulous her own personal adornments were. The woman contemplated fashion and beauty.....ALOT! While not exactly a trendy sort for her time, she could give Madonna a how-to on molding one's own image for mass recognition. And it was a fabulous image. Vivid colors, large earrings, floral head-dressings, over-sized traditional wear....what's not to love?

Knit.1

I figured it was just a matter of time before the pop-icons of now ran out of other-cultural beauties to emulate before they finally looked to Frida for inspiration. And, lo, we got Gwen Stefani in Frida-esque form both in video and on tour for her latest album. So what a joy to see that in this season's Knit.1 they've served up a slew of patterns directly inspired by Ms. Kahlo and her traditional wear. Even a headdress, no less! But should that not be enough to make you consider joining the Frida Kahlo cult (No kidding!), then you can always super-saturate your wardrobe with Frida smocks and skirts (again.... No Kidding!). Gotta love it and while I am of the large-earring variety, I just don't think I'm ready for the cult....seems too aggressive and not enough passive for moi. Maybe I'll change my mind after the Mexican rock opera. Rock on, Frida, rock on....

Bags, Bags, Everywhere

Another must-have. frizzelSTITCH

Another must-do. FABLE * handmade goods

Mama Wants A Brand New Bag

A girl could obsess over a bag like like this.

Baby Magic

Not really a gift, but as luck would have it I got a new desk accessory for Mother's day. Meet the Great Waldo Pepper, newest member of our household.

Invasion of Yarn

My brain has been taken over by the fiber monsters that be. I was lured in by the infectiously simple wiener link pattern served up by Lady Linoleum. I still can't explain the NEED to make meat out of yarn, but like a drone looking for purpose, I'd found mine in acrylic fiber hot dog links. No more than eight links in, I was hooked (pun intended) on crochet again. Like a conspiracy theorist in search of a U.F.O. and pickled aliens, I was prowling the internet for patterns and discount yarn that I'd never seen before. I even unraveled the mystery of yarn gauge in the flash of a ray gun, but not in enough time to decipher the mad methods of the Ebay yarn hoarders. Evil last-minute bidding species. *curse*spit*



After perusing many a website and thumbing through numerous magazines and books, I settled for Essential Crochet, by Erika Knight. To my surprise, it was the same Ms. Knight who wrote Simple Crochet, which made me want to pick up crochet in the first place.....lucky me, right? Well, I'm such a fiber frosh that it never occurred to me that every project that I was busily planning in my head according to exact yarn recommendations was gonna run $70 dollars at a minimum. Well, enter conspiracy theory number one that Red Heart is run by extraterrestrial super-power who plans to take control of planet Earth by 2010. So off to Elann for alternatives for my must-do blanket, requiring 7 skeins of no less than 12 colors so picturesquely stitched up in Rowan cotton "Glace". Depressed that even the cheapest 100% cotton alternative would still cost me about.....$250 (I almost cried), I headed for Ebay. Enter conspiracy theory number 2 that the fore-mentioned Ebay opportunists came to Earth in a spaceship made of Red Heart yarn. I'm not bitter (I promise), just raw from defeat. As it turned out, my local yarn shop lady convinced that there is no shame in a $3 skein of Bernat. I settled for the half-truth, because, frankly, the need to prove, or disprove, my theories was suppressed by my need to maintain the momentum of my creative urges. For my next project, I'm gonna fashion myself a lovely tin foil cap....stay tuned.

As Promised

Maybe nobody in the world will be as impressed as I was with the whole package, but I did promise to show it in all it's glory.....sort of. It was just so much more than I ever would've expected.

Inside of the brown envelope was yet another collage pasted to a thank-you card with a nice little botton pin attached. That made two pins in the package and two collages. The whole thing just made me smile.