Thing-a-day.com

for kiersten

banana
strawberries
pineapple
ginger
raspberry yogurt

I woke up from a dream that disoriented me for the rest of the day. I woke up in what I thought was my room.  This often happens.  I’m not really awake yet, it’s not my real room–it was a large gymnasium type room with high ceilings.  My bed was in the center.  I’m not quite sure but I think I more like a yo, a Korean style mat bed.

I looked around my room which had been completely transformed into a site specific installation piece.  I had painted the walls and made sculptural elements that bulged out out the floor and walls.  Pieces of burlap were layered and painted over in a messy way with white paint.  Crazy writing covered the walls, things I can’t quite remember, but they were juvenile scribblings with my name repeated over and over.  There were burns in the sculptures and  the whole room looked like the disturbed creations of a mentally ill artist.  Like someone who had been locked in a large studio, and this was the result of months of solitude.
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I made nipple key chains and a couple pins.  The first one, starting at the top left, is made out of hand-dyed merino (koigu) with some wooden beads. The top right is from a cotton and acrylic blend.  The bottom left nipple is from a hot red wool, and the last one is from a hand-dyed mohair (colinette).  I made them for my nipples for breasts project.

I hadn’t thought about making key chains till today, I figured out how to make the backs look as good as the front, and how to make the pin backs more sturdy.

I have a lot of stickers, A LOT OF STICKERS.  I made an envelope today and sent off a package of goodies off to one of the most awesome ladies on the planet.

The frogs escaped today.

I’ve been  documenting the stories connected to the objects that have traveled along with me on my adventures and witnessed the emotions I’ve felt from my interactions with people I’ve met.  Then I’m letting go of the objects, therefore allowing new space for memories to grow.

Some pieces are given away, to live an new life. Some pieces are transformed, into new things (and you’ve probably seen some here on thing-a-day). Some pieces are recycled, and the story of doing so is told. Very few pieces will be simply thrown out, and as many pieces as possible will be documented.

Today’s thing involves a bit a shameless self-promotion.  I am presenting my current work in progress, Pieces of Koco, at the First Person Arts Salon, on Wednesday Feb. 13th.  I spent today making a blog for the project, editing the content, and collecting more details to add to the objects.

If you’d like a piece of koco and to be part of this project, let me know (koco(at)misskoco.com). I’ll be putting more pieces up in the next few days and I’ll be bringing all the available items to the salon of Wednesday for people to adopt.

I haven’t touched a sewing machine in years.  This is my first attempt at making bags out of t-shirts. I made a lot of mistakes, but figured it all out in the end, and now I know what I have to do next time to make it better.

found a glass chicken without a head  

then i did a bit of documentation, then i destroyed some evidence  

Today was kinda nuts. I had a funny feeling when I got up. I didn’t feel like doing much, but motivated myself to organize my art supplies. Then this afternoon a building exploded in my neighborhood a couple doors down from the house I grew up in. Still, I got around to making a couple things.

These hangers remind me of ladies shopping with too many shopping bags dangling off their arms. Or like they are saying, “Why do I have so much tape? I don’t know.”

I also decided to make a knit bracelet.  I was inspired by the cashmere bangles I saw at some way pricey SoHo boutique over the summer.  This is my first attempt at making knit jewelery.

First I cut out the neck of an old black t-shirt and doubled it by twisting it like you would with a hair scrunchy.  Then I wrapped ribbon around it.  I stitched the ribbon with teeny-tiny stitches and thread that matched.  Then I took a piece of knitted lace (an old swatch I knitted for a sweater I decided not to make) and sewed up the seam around the ribbon covered piece.

Eh, I dunno, sorta looks like a donut.

I made these out of a magazine filled with over-tanned Japanese chicks over-enthusiastically modeling swim wear. I make envelopes all the time out of whatever I have around–menus, catalogs, train schedules, subway maps, I even have a whole bunch out of health brochures. One shouldn’t be surprised to get a letter from me in an envelope that tells you how to give yourself a breast exam.

Looking at my enormous stash of things I’ve made (particularly the envelopes), I’m thinking that maybe my challenge shouldn’t be to make a thing a day, but to figure out what to do with all the things I’ve already made.

Any suggestions?

Two of my grandmother’s necklaces broke.  I used the beads to make a couple of new ones with better clasps for her hands.  I still have a lot of beads left over, maybe I’ll attack them tomorrow.

I really like the way fabric looks when it’s rolled up. It reminds me of tree rings.

I don’t ever use trivets but this is the second old pair of jeans –> trivet project. Tomorrow I promise there will be no jeans or trivets involved.

My mother and I have wanted to document this recipe for years. Grandma Vera came over today and we made my great-grandmother’s borscht.  It was quite a production and took most of the afternoon, but we had a great time together.

I wore out my favorite pair of jeans, but couldn’t seem to let them go. I hoped to make a small rug, but this turned out to be a much bigger project than I expected. So, I made a trivet instead. Go to misskoco.com for more on how I made it.

I usually have no problem starting projects, or creating something everyday, but finishing is a different story all together. This month I’m focusing on finishing projects that are almost done and documenting the finished products, in addition to starting new ones. I also hope to use as many of the supplies that I already have and reuse old things and materials (like an old pair of jeans) to make new things.

What I did before:
I made this from Noro Kureyon yarn. It’s 100% wool so it felts easily. I knit a rectangle all in garter stitch (knit every row) and threw it in the washer. It shrank to 12 by 8.5 inches.

What I did today:
I folded it like an envelope and seemed up the sides, which I realized later I should have done before I felted it. To finish it off I crocheted a small latch and put a button on it that popped off a wool skirt I never wear. Tah-dah!