Author: -N-

Waiting

In California, we wait for the March axe to fall. Teachers and budgets are not always the best of friends. By law, all termination notices must be out by March 15th. RIFs.

I teach adults, and who knows if my program will continue into next year. Adult schools’ funding is at the mercy of the K-12 district administrators. Unfortunately. Community colleges, colleges and universities are somehow considered more important within the educational system than adult schools. Even the name “adult school” conjures up images of places for stupid people to go, people who have failed. In truth, this is very far from reality.

Programs at adult schools provide training at many levels. Not everyone wants to go to college and take general education courses while training for a career or trade. Not everyone wants the pleasure of learning about art history or botany, but would rather get down to business and do what they want to learn. Where I work, we offer medical programs, some which are connected with colleges as their accrediting agencies mandate an A.S. degree as requisite to the practice. We also have welding, machine shop, parent education, and on and on. And ESL, and GED. Many of our students use our programs to begin a career, to change self-perceptions of skills and ability to succeed in school. Adult schools are a vital part of the community they serve, but overlooked at local and state levels as far as importance. Why? Because we are not labeled “college”!

Colleges of all flavors are preferred over the adult school for funding, and adult schools are closing. We may too. Because the funding for adult schools has changed at the state level, money is very tight. Fees need to be raised to break even. Administrators of adult schools need to change their approaches to funding, and one way is to get federal financial aid as part of their program, whether in house, or through third-party administrators. Yes, it will cost money, but that needs to be explored. Long-term thinking, not short-term immediacy. Getting this is critical. Yet, the ostriches in administration keep their heads in the sand when it comes to the business of financing education.

The result will be that private schools, with fees triple or quadruple those of adult education, will get students because they know that without financial aid they cannot survive. And people desperate for training will take on debt disproportionate to the amount they will make when training is completed. Some private “career colleges” are not even recognized by licensing boards! But the fact is, these private schools have better business savvy than those who administer adult education.

Handsewn Hippari Top

Awhile ago I wrote a bit about John Marshall, a fabric artist and clothing designer who is very influenced by traditional Japanese clothing and dyeing.  He is the author of an excellent book on traditional Japanese clothing construction, Make Your Own Japanese Clothes. In his own work, John moves beyond the ordinary into the extraordinary, with an excellent eye for detail and color.   As an instructor, he is well-organized and clear, and very knowledgeable.  As an artist, there are few to compare.  His book is just like him – full of information that is detailed (but not annoyingly so) – and moves a traditional clothing into a modern vein.

Traditional Japanese clothing is made from fabric measuring about 13-14 inches wide.  As a result, buying fabric requires buying yards of it!  It comes in varying lengths on bolts, depending on what the final product is to be.  There are traditional lengths for haori, for kimono, and so on.  Modern Japanese stores carry modern fabrics, but probably have access to traditional fabrics.  In the U.S., patterns for making traditional Japanese and Asian clothing may be found at Folkwear, a company with patterns for traditional clothing from around the world.  These patterns allow you to use modern fabrics in modern widths, such as 45″ wide.  The beauty of John’s book is that if you have Japanese fabric in traditional widths, you can use the patterns he provides without too much work.  The selvages of the material are incorporated into the clothing construction, and sewing is minimal.  Seams do not need to be finished to prevent raveling.  The range of clothing is narrow, but the variety comes in the patterns of the fabrics themselves.

The hippari is a wraparound top, essentially unisex according to Marshall, but generally worn by women.  The male version of the hippari is the jimbei, another wraparound top but with side vents for coolness.  The illustration on the above left is from page 83 of John’s book.  He writes:

Of construction similar to the jimbei, except for tapered sleeves that stay out of the way and sewn (closed) side seams, the hippari is an infinitely practical as well as attractive top.

The hippari I made is an amalgamation of the two styles.  I created vented sleeves for coolness, as I use it as a sort of smock over my regular clothes.  The sleeves are gathered to keep them up and out of the way.  The fabric is a modern kasuri fabric woven in the traditional width.  The bolt measured about 10 yards in length, and using the layout in Make Your Own Japanese Clothes, I created a custom-fitted top.

I decided to sew my entire hippari by hand.  I used 100% cotton thread and tested out some of the techniques illustrated in John’s book, as well as techniques I improvised and use in my own home-made clothing.

The idea of sewing clothing by hand probably seems daunting.  I know for a fact my own handsewing is not what it could be with hours and hours of practice.  I can do tidy little stitches, but sewing a backstitch for yards is not easy to do.  The material needs to be stretched taut for the stitching to be easily accomplished.  I stretched mine out on a large embroidery hoop at times, and at other times I just held it, stitched, and hoped for the best.

Sewing birds and clamps have been used for centuries to make this job easier, and traditional Japanese sewing boxes come equipped with just such items.  If you wanted, you could use a C-clamp to hold your material in place.  The nice thing, though, about sewing the hippari was the crispness of the fabric – it really allowed me to sew much more easily than a soft, drapey fabric.  Washing has softened the material, and, yes, it did shrink, but not too much.

This photo shows the open armhole, which actually is very nice if you are planning to wear the hippari over other clothes. It gives a little more room for movement, as well as helps keep you cooler. As I tend to get warm easily, I decided to do the vented sleeves found in the jimbei. If you do this, be sure to reinforce the vent, otherwise you may need to re-stitch your seam.

A running stitch or back stitch may be used for the majority of the seams. The same can be used to hold the seams in place, such as under the arm. The straight edges of the selvages mean no finishing of cut edges, as you can see from the final photos below.  Below, the running stitch is shown for the back center seam of the hippari in the left hand photo, and to the right is illustration of the selvage edge.  The selvages are also seen in the photo above.

For greater detail of the hippari, click the next photo.

Altogether, this is an easy project if you want something different to do.

Sumi-e Palm Tree, i

The other day I received a request to demonstrate painting a palm tree in sumi-e.  As I have painted these in watercolor, but not in sumi, I thought I would do a bit of research.  To do this, I just googled “palm tree” and clicked on “images.”  You can also go to places like WebShots, Flickr, and so on, and do a search for palm trees.  The reason I did this search is to look at the different types of palm trees, as well as consider which one might make the most interesting composition.  Shape of the trunk, direction of the leaves, texture and structure all play important parts in a photograph and a painting.  As sumi-e is shades of black-grey-white, I find these elements are especially important focal points.

The above photo is an amalgamation of numerous public domain images of palm trees, as well as one I took when I was in the British Virgin Islands several years ago.  Some are very familiar to us here in SoCal, especially the top center one – these are the palms that are found lining the streets of Santa Monica.

I also have a couple of ACEOs I did of two different palm trees.  The one on the left is a sago palm (I think).  We have three of these in our back yard.  The one to the right is a banana palm.  Sagos are short, squat, and slow-growing.  Their fronds are stiff and pointy.  The banana palm is a much more “loose” palm – if such can be said – as its leaves fly around and are not serrated as most palm leaves.

Whenever I think about a painting, whether in watercolor or sumi, there are elements to consider.    For me, the shape of the object on the page is perhaps the most important.

With sumi-e and other ink-painting traditions, the essence or spirit of the subject matter is important. I don’t think this is less important in modern Western painting, but scientifically exact and accurate rendition of an object is less important in the East.

This means that a sumi painting of a palm tree must catch the qualities of a palm tree.  For me, the sound of a palm tree in a brisk wind is its most outstanding abstract feature.  Fronds dancing in the wind would be an element to catch. Other elements which say “palm” to me are the trunks. Many have smooth trunks, such as can be seen in the pictures above, but the sago palm, the king palm and many other have rough trunks. Fronds are dropped from the tree and the trunk develops a very ragged quality. Do I want to re-create that texture?

As I have been thinking about doing another video about painting, this request has come at a perfect time.

Yikes! Stripes! and Sumi-e

Anyone who has knitted stripes in the round knows that there are problems where the two colors meet.  There are all sorts of ways written up about how to avoid that “jog” that shows the color joins.  Oddly, I couldn’t find any videos on YouTube demonstrating how to do it!

Circular Stripes

Meg Swanson and Elizabeth Zimmermann wrote about how to do a jogless jog.  Judy Gibson has a very good demonstration on how to accomplish it, including pictures with different colored yarns.  I thought I was doing it correctly when I made the Fish Hat, but didn’t – the stripes were more than obvious.

Here, then, is my take of the Jogless Jog:

  • Knit one complete round of new color.
  • Before knitting the first stitch of the next round, use the tip of your right needle to reach into down into the stitch below the first stitch of the next round, and pull the right side of that stitch up, and place it on the left hand needle.  This means (as far as I can tell) is that you pull up the stitch one row below the next stitch, and slide it onto the left hand needle.  You then knit these two stitches together.

Something to note is that a diagonal will occur, according to Judy’s site.  Take the time to read it in detail, and look at the pictures.  It’s a very nice presentation.

Yikes! Stripes! Socks

The other day in a prep class for the CBEST, I started these socks at lunch. The yarns are KnitPicks Palette in a rather tomato-soup red and a Noro sock yarn that varies from hot pink and orange to brownish stripes. I am alternating five rows of Noro with two rows of the Palette. It is because of the stripes that I researched a bit more into how to avoid the jog.

As always, TechKnitting comes up with an excellent and detailed description of avoiding that stripey jog.   Knitting-and.com has a bunch of other ways to avoid that jog.  I decided to try this method for my sock:

In circular knitting:  when adding a new color or stripe, prevent a jog at the joining point by lifting the right side of the stitch below onto the left needle and knit it together with the stitch.

Right now, the jog is not obvious in the color shifts, and is really badly photographed, but as the colors begin to shift, the stripe change will be more obvious, and I hope, more hidden.

Striped Sock Gusset

I am also at the gusset of my Thockies (for want of a better name).  I am not pleased with the way the stripes are proceeding, and so am debating about what to do.  I think what I will do is rip it out to the point of picking up the gusset stitches.  I picked them up in alternating colors, but what I think I need to do is to pick them up in a solid color, even if this means making a bit of a mess with attaching and / or breaking yarn.  Then, on the second round, I will begin the alternating colors for the stripes, and decrease using the same color all along the gusset.  I am also considering using the Dutch heel – as I know it – so I will not need any gusset decreases whatsoever, but can simply knit in stripes without a problem.

Sumi-e

I have not had the time to do any painting at all! It really bugs me. I planned to do some during the holiday season, but unfortunately, so much got in the way! And again, my weekends are devoted to credentialling. I am soooooo tired of school and work! I’ve had to drop my Japanese class, I cannot find a time slot big enough to paint and relax, and on and on and on. No Chinese painting class, either. Well, given that, once I take the CBEST, I will PAINT and make some more videos . . .

Wah!

Laziness

I like the way cables look, I just hate knitting them.  I have also hated twisted stitches for much the same reason.  Just about every book tells you to use a cable needle.  Yeah, sure, it’s oodles of fun to slip one stitch and hold in back, purl one stitch, then knit the one on the cable needle.  And do this fifty times each round.  No, thank you!  All this interrupts the rhythm of knitting and makes me crazy and impatient.  As far as I am concerned, no project is worth this.  A cabled hat is about as far as I will go – never, ever a cabled sweater.

I’ve known for some time that the twisted stitches of my childhood do not require a cable needle for every other stitch.  You can knit or purl into the second stitch, then knit or purl into the first stitch, and then remove them together.  That is so easy.  No cable needles!  Shifting stitches back and forth is not a big deal either – it is that pesky cable needle.

I’ve developed my own ways to do cables without a needle, but none have been especially satisfactory.  So, in a fit of pique, I decided to check out YouTube yet again!  And here are a few videos on cabling without needles.

This first one is filmed in windy North Dakota, so the sound is not the best, but her technique is very good, and the video is very clear.  Notice that Adorabubbleknits knits a few of her stitches before dropping them off and picking them up.

Here you will see Wendy (of Wendy Knits) does all the transferring before knitting her stitches.

Either way, that damned cable needle has been eliminated.  I just may try a complicated cable pattern (a very small one) project this way.