Garak's Apprentice

the french images above ↑ (a woman facing away from her two children; two women), get 'edited' (or rather like. recomposed) into the american ones below ↓ (two images of women facing their children).

from the article (Americanizing French Fashion Plates: "Godey's" and "Peterson's" Cultural and Socio-Economic Translation of "Les Modes Parisiennes" by Karin J. Bohleke):

In contrast, French mothers in Les Modes Parisiennes are frequently completely disengaged from the children depicted with them: they look elsewhere and even turn their backs (see Figures 1-2). Again, this is a function of the contrived poses necessary to depict certain key stylistic features of garments. However, this is one aspect of French fashion plates that American editors found unacceptable: when the French mother is looking at her children, Peterson's frequently re-engraved the plate in its entirety (see Figures 3-6). But when the mother's pose has her ignoring the very objects that give her life its meaning. Peterson's was more likely to re-engrave the children without this unacceptable mother, or another French fashion plate woman whose gaze was basically in the right direction was substituted (see Figures 7-8). Concerned that French plates might send the wrong message regarding a woman's ultimate role, American editors eliminated the unacceptable depiction. There are consequences to this substitution: French plates depicted appropriate garments in a suitable setting, thereby instructing their readers in the social etiquette of dress through context; American substitutions resulted at times in socially absurd juxtapositions, such as a ball gown on a clifftop boardwalk (see Figures 9-10).

I finished it!!

And we immediately had a weather day where it was perfect to wear it before returning to winter deep freeze!

All this means that we makers have a responsibility, and a great power to actually know our supply chains! We must make carefully. We have the power to use thrifted, scavenged, or ethically harvested materials, or to make sure the companies that we buy our supplies from are just as passionate about sustainability as we are. We can use newspaper, broken glass, and scrap wood to rebuild our little corners of the world.

I say all this as an artist by the way. A metalsmith, knitter, and illustrator—when I buy metal I have no fucking clue if it’s recycled or if its mining is wrecking some ecosystem on the other side of the world. This year I’ve made a promise to myself not to buy a single new art supply.

Some caveats:

1. I still work a job where I have no control over the materials.

2. I allow thrifting because I honestly don’t see the harm

3. I obviously don’t think this is easy for everyone (I promise I don’t piss on the poor), and

4. I’m also not perfect—I have made exceptions for reusable tools and one commission that allowed me to donate to renter relief in areas hit by ICE.

So far it’s been a lot of reusing junk mail (I looove paper mache), mending, and whittling down my yarn stash. I’m really excited about the spoon I’m carving from the leg of my old wrecked bed frame. If you have a large stash or if you don’t and you really want to challenge yourself, I hope you consider it. It’s opened up worlds of potential and honestly made me more creative.

Finished rug!

Started: probably sometime around late June 2025

Finished: March 27th (FINALLY)

Yarn: warp is cotton yarn like for crochet lace that I got unlabeled from Goodwill. Weft is cut-up t-shirts.

Pattern: nope.

It is off the loom! 3 whole meters of fucking around and finding out!

As the only person that I know of that uses antique machines I thought you'd be the one to ask!

The little barbell ones are for vibrating shuttle machines, and yeah they can be pretty hard to come by! Do you know what specific make of machine they're from? Have they got any brand names engraved on them, or any other clues in the box they're in? If you know for sure which machine they work for you can probably sell them on ebay or something.

Here are the ones I've got that came with my 1885 White VS2, and they're Very Very Precious because there is no way I could realistically find replacements if anything happened to them.

Six new bird FPP patterns just landed in my Etsy shop. Blue Heron, Bald Eagle, Canada Goose, Barn Owl, Wild Turkey, Red-tailed Hawk.

Which bird matches your quilting personality? I'm a Barn Owl. Quiet, focused, slightly unhinged after dark

Alas, I do not! The last time I posted about that was in 2020 and I'm pretty sure I haven't touched it since. I know for sure I haven't worked on it since moving, and that was over 2 years ago now, so it's still on my embroidery frame and still only about half done.

The quilt top is finally done! Took another six month break with only three seams left to go, because that's just how we roll I guess. It's roughly the size of a double bed, and a total pain to try and take a full picture of.