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Spill Guts Here. It's gotta go somewhere, know what I mean? Can you stand it? 
Design Process Series:  Spitcurl  I Heart B.G.  Headigan 
TECHKnitting
Geek Knitting
West Indian Parade
West Indian Parade
Dog/Cat Wrestling
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5.10.2008
5.08.2008
hehe... Meatwater! Speaking of which, my shop is phasing out the all leather handbags..too heavy, and too expensive. We'll do a leather strap or trim, but that's it. Also, every style of shoe RedLipstick carries is "vegan".
I have not had a chance to rest or breathe...some exciting developments possibly coming down the pike in a few months. Endlessly convoluted, my life is...but I'm pretty happy right now, I have to say. Just not enough time in the day.... Visiting Brooklyn Designs in Dumbo tomorrow before opening the shop. 5.05.2008
Disappearing down the trade show rabbit hole the next two days morning till night, topped off with another visit to the opera Tuesday night {thank you, J!!}. d.r.e.a.m.i.n.g.o.f.a.v.a.c.a.t.i.o.n.
5.04.2008
Some more lil' kitty action: Tiny Sonia {or maybe Honeybee} hanging with her Aunt Lulu:
 5.02.2008
Uh oh...a tiny, female baby kitten found in Bensonhurst, rescued first by a college student, and currently being lovingly fostered by my friend Sonia, is slated to join my menagerie in about a month:
 Hello Kitty! I'm naming her Sonia after my friend, who does wonderful animal rescue work, and is also the owner of the most famous tripod, Lulu. Murphy is going to thrilled to have a new kitty to play with, and I'm hoping Penny will love her too. Kitty, that'll take a bit of time. 5.01.2008
A quick shot of some crocheted yoke tees in house this spring... Silk tape on a cotton tee:
 CUUnrelated: I read an excellent book yesterday "The Sociopath Next Door", recommended to me after a long conversation with one of my customers...this book helped me understand things that happened to me a number of years ago, when I had a "relationship" with what I believe is a sociopath, or person who literally has no conscious, and therefore does heinous things without feeling much of anything. Funnily, I remember saying to him many times "You are empty inside, aren't you?" Anyway...great book, a recommended read. 4.30.2008
We got the motherload of deliveries today...8 boxes of scarves, wicker purses, summer dresses, some colorful belts, jackets that need to be sent back {don't ask..PITA!}, some beautiful printed linen Dumpling bags and scarves from Flowie...and next week is market week, meaning I'm focused on buying for Fall already. sigh. Perhaps some pix later of todays booty...have to process clothing now. My assistant is having her college finals this week, so I have no help. I may hire a second person for back-up, my shop has progressed to the point of simply being too much for one person to wrangle. Recession, reschmession...carry what other people do not, and keep prices affordable, and you will not be complaining about the recession. There's some free advice for you. :-D
4.29.2008
Cleaning house and making fabric experiments in the studio these two rainy days off. Made a carrot cake this afternoon, with extra cinnamon, crushed pecans, double grated carrots, yogurt and soy milk, sea salt and a pinch of black pepper. mmm.
 CUFiguring out the best way to hang purses from these frames, and using my embroidery swatches up at the same time. The framed baby foot is finished. It's lined with marbled cotton flannel:  CUYellow velvet ribbon with stitching makes a flat bottom:  CUEmbroidered fleuron on the back:  CU CUThe next one is embroidered baby buzzards, red wool twill lining, with silver grey velvet casing:  CU4.25.2008
Fooled around with a new shipment of purse frames this am, with this result:
 CUMachine embroidery on cotton canvas, silk taffeta lining, velvet ribbon casing. 4.24.2008
I spent some time with old pal Jane Diaz yesterday am in her studio, always an inspiration. I determined to only buy silver, as I'm getting tired of gold. When I saw these, it was true love:
 CUMatte silver number and symbol studs! o.m.g. I also have an X. I got tons of these for the shop, as well as other beautiful earrings. The numbers are sold one at a time, so you can make personal number combinations. If you must have these, email me: staceyatredlipstickdotnet, and I'll send some to you...they are $20 per ONE piece. I did buy myself a working pair of tiny 1" rose gold scissors, now on a silver chain around my neck. Jane is finally working on her own website, I'll post it here when she launches. Her work is both modern and classic at the same time, the only designer I wear every single day. I've been slammed with work, and feel like I just came up for air. *big breath* 4.21.2008
Stupidly busy. Not much to report.
4.18.2008
stayed up late making some new colors for the shop page.
4.16.2008
Some beautiful crocheted and embroidered art from a fellow Brooklynian: Emily Barletta. Or how about sculptured lipstick art by Carmen Lozar! Wow!
I stayed off the foot {actually the ankle} yesterday, and it feels much better today. I think I just twisted it or pulled a muscle, or something. Onward! I have an exciting new project in the works, we hope to work on it all summer, and launch in September. If you're one of the charming people who email me, wanting to shop in my store, but are not in Brooklyn, this should be a bunch of fun for you. The concept is just a bit more interesting, I hope, { and economical} than the average webshop. My current webshop will be used for knitting pattern sales, as it is already. Practiced on the Passap yesterday, took a chance and worked with un-elastic cottons and linens, got many a dumped swatch. Madame Passap likes her tension JUST SO, or she will not co-operate. I managed to actually finish a long Japanese cotton scarf:  CU4.15.2008
On the way home from the Opera last night, I stepped into a hole in street getting into a cab, and hurt my foot somehow. It's not swollen this am, but I can't put too much pressure on it, or bend it sideways without pain. I can {limp}walk enough to walk the dogs or get around the apartment. DAMN IT! A planned trip to the garment district to get supplies today is off. Working in the studio today instead. My foot hurts! If it still hurts this bad in a few days, will have to go to the doctor for an x-ray. I hope I can ride my bike to work tomorrow. This is a major drag. Some shots from last night:
Pre-opera dinner at Ollies Noodles:  CUInside the Met, waiting for it to start:  CUThe large banner outside Lincoln Center:  CU4.14.2008
Alot on my plate, all put there by myself, so no complaints. Today is a studio day, until tonight, when pal R and I go to the Metropolitan Opera see the 3.5 hour production of Satyagraha {by Philip Glass}. *Very*Excited*
And on craiglist, I found two of these babies:  Glass display tables. Picking them up Wednesday night, then painting the wood next week, and finally using them in the shop for jewelry display purposes. It'll be fun to fix these up, not sure what color they'll be painted yet, but it WON'T be electric lime green! Thinking gloss white, with degrade' turquoise legs. We'll see how ambitious I am next week. Would love to have more time to knit. A ridiculous situation, but there's all summer... 4.13.2008
4.11.2008
Since I became a vegetarian a few months ago, I was elected to "taste test" a new vegetarian option at Le Gamin next door. mmmm! Eggplant cream, homemade pickles and olives, lentils and tomatoes, and chickpea puree'. I could eat this every day, no problem.
 CU
Machine embroidering fleuron color tests for clothing and bag designs this Spring/Summer in my shop. Rayon thread and cotton canvas.
 CU4.10.2008
Our street got the asphalt scraped off it today, very nervewracking, smelly, noisy and incredibly dusty. I closed up shop after a few minutes of opening and went to the Brooklyn Museum to see the Murakami exhibit. Wonderful. I especially liked being in a giant room papered with extreme color and graphics. Everything about it was gorgeous.
I finally saw Judy Chicago's "Dinner Party", and was in awe. There was also an exhibit of large scale hand embroidered pictures by Ghada Amer that I loved, unexpectedly. I reopened about 5, after the heavy machinery was gone. sigh. They're coming back tomorrow. 4.09.2008
I took a few minimal shots of the shop today. Click them to see larger:
      
I got a tremendous amount done these past two days. Today I ran overdue errands and bought/planted a new rose bush in one of the planter at the studio building. I'll post pictures of the first blooms, right now the new rose is just pruned stems. While I was at the nursery, I also picked out a Norfolk Island Pine for Kittys plant collection:
 CUShe so desperately wants to go outside and explore, but she is an apartment cat, there's no way...so I'm building her a small indoor garden. Poor thing makes jealous bird noises whenever I take the dogs out for a walk. 4.07.2008
Well, things are churning me here, I am *busy*. My Martha's Vineyard trip?...non. Having some studio building turnover, and need be here to show the studio to prospective renters. My shop was SLAMMED yesterday due to the brand new "Brooklyn Flea" market a few blocks away. People come down Vanderbilt Ave in DROVES on the way to it, and seemingly hundreds of them also stopped into my shop on the way. I expected a bit more traffic, but not to this degree, so currently regrouping and figuring out how to handle it over the summer. wow.
I left the house early yesterday to check out the Flea myself yesterday, numerous friends ran booths there. Aside from a kick-ass whoopie pie and a mushroom cheddar scone {both delicious!}, the only thing I bought was a 2.5" tin doll head from the Repop guys, she's the new shop mini-mascot:  CUHer eyes are glass, and I love her! 4.03.2008
The back of the last swatch, showing where the unknit strand from the nopps are. Gratuitous shot of Dog & Carrot.
 CU4.02.2008
16 row nopps!!!Swiss precision...no shit, they are not kidding! These are impossible on a Japanese machine. The heavily slipped stitched back makes you wonder exactly how to use this, but still...unbelievable. This is flat bed work.
 CU4.01.2008
oh...hahaha! There's one, and only one, scumbag from my past that I'd like to subscribe to this service. A girl can dream, can't she? must be a 4/1 joke...
Working with cashmere, I almost got a complete scarf knitted on the Passap yesterday...at about 450r, I took a break and made a cup of tea...when I got back, the display was off, although the console was still on. I felt like discreetly vomiting in my pocket...until I did a little research online and found I most likely need a new internal battery. Great. Waiting for my book "Passap Paramedic" which should come shortly and show me how to change, indeed, FIND, the battery. Until then I suppose I have to keep knitting away without break, it's very physical, and I can tell if I do alot of work on this machine, it will banish any underarm dingle-dangle. Whooopee! :->
Anyway...yesterdays experiments included a double bed technique called "Fantasy Fairisle", KT#186, combined with the same spiked diagonal pattern below, flipped and mirrored. The results are these: Front of work:  CUBack of work:  CUCloseup of the stitch formation:  CUNow, I have to brush my barnacles and get out here...have errands in the city all afternoon... 3.31.2008
Swatching today on the Passap, playing with uneven color change stripe ratios on a textured ground, one of my favorite things to do. This is double bed work, essentially two "fronts" back to back, so both sides are patterned. Yes, I am having fun today. It's chilly and raining, so I don't feel compelled to run errands. Tomorrow for that. :-)
A swatch "front":  CUThe "back", corresponding small patterns:  CUStill getting used to the passaps tension and quirks, and it has many. The stitches are incredibly small! I am getting impatient to produce something useful, even simple armwarmers or a scarf. Might switch to a Japanese machine later just for that satisfaction, then come back to this again. sigh. 3.30.2008
Obama stickers are all spoken for, except for a small number available in my Brooklyn shop... Thank you! I truly hope he wins the Presidency.
3.27.2008
While I would prefer to completely ignore politics, I can't anymore.
The shop just got in beautiful, Shepard Fairey designed Obama stickers. 4"x6", in lovely color. If want some, email me at staceyatredlipstickdotnet. They are $1.25 each, and you get free shipping. I have 250, and they are going fast.  CUBush junior has been the worst, most destructive president in the history of our country. 3.25.2008
Couple Wears Dead Dog Sweaters. Oh, the mainstream media just DOESN'T UNDERSTAND! :-> Those are pretty nicely made, BTW.
Two color Fairisle mixed with half fisherman's rib, full needle, double bed. The light color is a cotton boucle', very fine. The dark is one end 2/28 cashmere and one end merino/angora knit together as one strand. When this is washed, the cashmere/merino/angora will bloom and the result will be a flocked pattern on an open, lacy ground:  CUThe backside is a shadow of the front.  CUI am thrilled at the fineness of the gauge of these swatches. More nopp experiments:  CUThis machine most assuredly DOES like a bit of weight for nopp pattern techniques, I tried it and got far fewer dropped stitches, which are a frightmare to repair with these types of double faced fabrics. My machine is in perfect working order, and once she was cleaned and oiled, ran very smoothly. I am deeply grateful to whoever owned her before for taking such good care of her, thank you! The manual itself, {all three inches of it, yikes!} is a work of OCD beauty. Every sheet in a plastic cover, all in order and numbered in a binder, Oh thank you again for this! Also, to my delight, my wholesale source of very fine gauge wools and wool/silk yarns, have been certified organic. I've been ordering from them for many years, but not the last few {broken machinery}. This is wonderful. Between this, and the Cormo and Mohair I'll be using from Martha's Vineyard Fiber Farm, the majority of my output next season will be mostly if not completely green! Nice! 3.24.2008
Had some time to play with the Passap today, I went straight to the techniques I'm most interested in, the very 3D tuck stitch patterns. This machine does so many different things, it's best to specialize at first, I think. Here's the first full needle double bed swatch from this machine, dropped stitches and all, in a lace weight lambswool:
 CUWhen I'm learning a new machine, I always use a very loose gauge to eliminate yarn breakage, to some degree. This could be tightened up, but the lambswool is spun tightly, and is a bit sticky, so this sheer weight is also stable. These are stitch tests for RedLipstick Fall '08 pieces. Closeup:  CU3.21.2008
Ha'Penny settles in for her afternoon beauty sleep in a sunny spot on the davenport. Madame went squirrrrreling in Brower Park this morning with Mr. Murphy Bed, and is fatigued.
 CU3.20.2008
Size 5 needle, no pattern. Just miles and miles of mindless garter st. pre-bedtime knitting. I don't know why it's so much fun to watch the colors change so gradually, but it is. I wanted to knit something with no counting. :-> When I first got this yarn, {Kauni, from Denmark} I thought it was a little scratchy, but after you start to knit it, it softens up, and now I LOVE it! I have two balls of black, silver cream colorway that's going to be a light hoodie for me someday. It's a real old fashioned "sticky" wool.
 CU3.19.2008
I got a surprise visit from my little brother Richard yesterday, to the delight of my animals, as well, who dearly love their "Uncle". Murphy went ape-shit when he heard his voice on the phone! Rich is in town last minute to cover the car show at Javits. He's the engineering reporter for "Automotive News" in Detroit. It was nice, I rarely get to see him.
I just got into the shop, and there are 6 boxes of new Spring jewels, clothes and bags waiting for me to open and process! My great assistant Sydney is in Ghana this week on a Scholars tour, so I have to do it all myself. I have been spoiled by having help. :-< Off to unpack and steam. Ugh. I just got in some giant balls of variegated Kauni, and really want to play with it! Not this week, though. Passap experimentation is also on hold for a little while. I did fire up the electronics, and it does indeed work! Programming it is bizarre though. I have to do it when I'm awake and alert, until it becomes second nature.. 3.17.2008
I read the manual a second time, and it started to feel familiar.
Got in put together this am, no problem, and just figured out how the color changer works. As far as I can tell, this machine dates from 1991. The software is deep, but still primitive enough to be able to see the programmers thought processes. Old software is amazing. This machine is an incredible mix of electronics and physical results. I love this! Haven't powered up yet. Slightly afraid to. Will do it later today, after everything is oiled and adjusted for smoothness.  CU
Oh man...got the Passap home, just read the large manual from front to back. The way you program this thing is bizarre, and not logical or intuitive in any way. There are many very small things you MUST do regarding needle set-up and programming, and they don't tell you why, and there is no apparent reason. So you need to just remember. Great. I need logic, damn it! Also, this has no tension mast, so I have to rig one from another brand of machine, hopefully not a large problem. There is also no manual showing how to put it together, will figure that out in the am.
I have downloaded as much info as I can find, and will be immersed in it for a few days. If I get any actual knitting done, will be happy to share the results. Don't hold your breath until then. I can see my work in the end is going to use all of my machines, as they all do different things. When I get this going, it's going to be fun. 3.13.2008
Lots of new beautiful Spring clothing came in yesterday and today, will try to get Sydney to model some of it tomorrow, if we have time. Planning a 3 day trip mid-April to Martha's Vineyard, to attend the Martha's Vineyard Fiber Fest and Shearing Day event. It's going to be so great! Hopefully I can easily rent a bike, and ride all over MV. I hope to use alot of the ultra soft and luxurious Cormo Susan grows for items for my shop in the fall. I can't wait to meet the sheep and the new lambs! My shop will also carry the wonderful socks she has made with mohair from her goats.
The shop will be closed April 18-19 and 20th. {friday - sunday} The 6000 will be picked up, tentatively, this Sunday night after I close up. That leaves all day Monday and Tuesday to get to know my new baby, errands be damned. YippEE! 3.12.2008
The knitting gods are smiling on me this month {instead of sending me broken machines}...in a nutshell...an electronic Passap 6000 is mine! Oh my fuckin god...I've wanted one of these for decades, but could not afford one. It sort of fell into my lap, and I could not say no...and bills are not due for a couple of weeks...so...
Knitting at Casa RedLipstick is about to get very, very interesting. The 6000 does things I've only dreamed about...it's on a level between the Brother models and industrials. One steep learning curve coming up. These babies are operated completely differently than what I'm used to. I RELISH learning it. oh what a month! Hope to get it home and have it set up in 2-4 days. 3.09.2008
A Flickr stream of some incredibly beautiful and complex knitwear.
I just had the oddest experience: Sitting in the kitchen, drinking tea, planning my next two days, vaguely listening to the radio, WFMU.org and...A live band called "Tamar with the Hoof and Mouth Sinfonia", playing in Maxwell's in Hoboken, NJ, was covering my old band Pulsallama's song, "The Devil Lives in my Husbands Body"! I couldn't fucking believe it! I don't think I have ever laughed as hard. The rendition was extremely faithful, it was amazing! If you seriously have nothing else to do, you can listen to it yourself. The funniest thing was, our singers were really trying hard to sing well, these singers make them sound really off..oh my god...hehehe. I played floor toms, timbales and bells, it's a rambling, illogical stream of beats, and offbeats...and someone fucking learned the part! Are you kidding me? It was as close to an out of body experience as I'm ever going to get, totally unexpectedly. Every long now and then I have a certain kind of day in the shop...everyone who comes in here is clever and funny and in a great mood! I have laughed almost continuously for the past 4 hours. My cheeks hurt! What a fun day. Thank you, people who came in today! Some good news, I have found a very talented certain someone to build me a workable webshop and a password protected wholesale section. Thank you, K!!! And R, for the recommendation. Now I can focus on working on my machine..hehe Ok...YEAH! What a weird week. 3.08.2008
3 days later...my machine still works. :-D
This banded pattern also reads well in multiple colors. I am so happy...these patterns are like old friends.  CU
Look at this beautiful stitch work: Knit/Lab !
3.07.2008
The machine is still working today. :-> Bottom swatch: the wood paneling pattern, will be nicer with less contrasting colors and wider dividers. The top swatch is an experiment: a complex allover fairisle, which traditionally tend to be banded or very small. This is a combination of many motifs fitted together like a puzzle, and then half dropped. Needs cleaning up.
 CUI have dropped almost all projects not absolutely necessary, and am focused on designing a Fall line. The timing is ideal, I can work on orders all summer. This kind of is the first time my REAL work {stitch design} is being shown outside my shop, just realized that this am. Weird. I got the macbook filled with migrated files from my big machine last night. Today it goes to work for the first time. I own{ed} 4 lovely Wedgwood dishes for many years, loved them and used them frequently. Strangely, I broke three of them by accident this week. W.T.F? I haven't broken a dish or glass in many years. Hope this is it, I'm attached to the last one. :-< 3.06.2008
I had a dream last night that the new machine really didn't work {anxiety, anyone?}, so I knit tests ASAP this am. Yes, it really does work, although I can still hardly believe it. Half drop stylized woodgrain and tumbling blocks, 7g.
 CU
Designs from my archive. I'm working on a few different versions of woodgrain now, this floorboard pattern is first. In honor of my new Macbook, it will be knitted and lined to make a sleeve.
I wish there were more waking hours in the day.  CUI also fired up an ancient device: the PPD. It uses the TV as a screen, you design stitch patterns on it, then transfer them into an electronic knitting machine via cable. Painfully slow, yet another option if my new 950 breaks somewhere down the road. I now have mylar capability, thanks to Marian. She tested two other of my machines, confirming they are dead selection-wise. I also got an invaluable lesson on fuse changing, and learned two interesting machine flat bed cast-ons while she was here. Fully pumped up motivation-wise...stay tuned. :-> The vintage interface made me laugh, I had forgotten about working this way.  CUThe menu:  CUStitch or no stitch. Endlessly.  CU3.05.2008
My {working} life changed today drastically, with the addition of a perfectly working knitting machine. Now, I have to go open up the shop, albeit late, and make some money!
Knitted fine gauge confections to appear in the near future. hehe WOO FUCKING HOO! holy crap I'm happy/ |
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