Au Revoir Simone

It's been too hot in Melbourne to do anything but look on the internet - I wish. My day job moved to a showroom two suburbs away so it's been packing boxes and moving furniture in 43, 44 and 45 degree heat. OMG. It's time to cool down by pretending I'm at the MET with these girls.

Photos by David Black via Vain and Vapid

Photo Opportunity

Now that I've entered the blogging world, I'm always taking photos and I think my companions may be a little embarrassed when I'm taking pictures like a frenzied tourist - oh well. But now my boyfriend is seeing things through my eyes (how long have I waited for that?) and is pointing things out for me to take pictures of - like this stuff that had accumulated on top of the roof of a warehouse we were in, which was actually pretty interesting:

Aski Kataski

I've been posting a lot of other people's work, more than I'd like to, but I'm still working six days a week at my day job and am also working on several pieces for an upcoming exhibition in early March. That's all about to change next week though.

In the meantime, another new discovery - Aski Kataski - beautiful.

These images via style skilling

and also check out more images at inaya

Inspiration/Herbert

I enjoy looking through fashion and textiles images to find ideas for my own work, but it is quite a fractured experience. I am so involved in the process; I see a button here, a stitch there, a colour palette, more rarely a whole look.

Last night I went to see the Matthew Herbert Big Band. I have no musical proficiency so I was not distracted by the technical process, but the concert reminded me of the bigger concepts of creative work that often passes me by when I have my head in my knitting.

In particular I was impressed by the initiation to do things differently or above expectation, an obvious warmth and affection in the work, and the sharing of the performance, mainly displayed through the joyful presence of Herbert and vocalist Eska. This was in addition to Herbert's own agenda, which you can read about on his various sites. And obviously I don't need to elaborate on his awesome musical and technical skills.

A great night and a reminder of some of the things that I would like to achieve in my own work.

Aneta Bartos

Aneta Bartos found via Moon River (thank you Moon)

Oh My Goodness

I have just discovered Reem:

From DDD magazine 2007:

Thank you Style Bubble. All images via Reem.

A Few Reasons Why I love Knitwear

Margiela jumper, long johns Tim Hamilton

Raf Simons jumper

Jil Sander jumper, Fogal customised wool leggings

D&G jumper (can't believe D&G have been mentioned twice on this blog), Tim Hamilton long johns

All images from surface magazine, the fall fashion issue 2008

There in Spirit

It's become a bit of a ritual to visit my grandparents in Singapore around this time of year. I don't know if I'll get to go right now, a lot of things are up in the air. These images taken by my sister of (and above) my grandmother's house are a nice reminder.

Lanvin Pre Fall 2009

The Beauty Of Change

Glass Silk Metal Wood

I got some materials out to try and make my own Marni style earrings but half way through I realised that I was probably never going to wear them as they were way too heavy. So I had a change of heart and made up some other pieces to play around with. With my rudimentary crocheting skills, I crocheted some beautiful silk yarn that I had unravelled from a fabric remnant, and the brown string is made from alpaca yarn. The piece in the last image was the most successful. I am going to try and incorporate this sort of thing into my knitting.

Casa Vogue N.30

As much as I love fashion, for me there is no better magazine than Casa Vogue, the interiors supplement that sometimes comes shrink wrapped in with Italian Vogue and overseen by Franca Sozzani. It strikes the perfect balance of all the things I love; whimsy, melancholia, a touch of kitsch, a certain spookiness, and of course, beautiful houses. I wish I could find a fashion equivalent - the closest I've come to it is No. D Magazine featuring Oliver Theyskens.

Casa Vogue also seems supremely sophisticated and eclectic without overbearing pretension. It's as rare as hen's teeth and then there can be the agonising wait for the sea mail edition to arrive, hence these images are from the October edition I just picked up.

(Story on Jean Cocteau at Villa Santo Sospir)

(The Pixie House, Mitry-Mory, Paris)