Inspirational Artists

A Sweet Encounter in the Subway

Tue. November 9th 2010 8pm

Riding the NYC subway sure is a new experience to me. Most of the times, I get a bit freaked out because of the crowds but also because of the fact that eye contact is hardly made, nor do people tend to smile. At least, so I have experienced. On a ride to Queens, a lady was wearing a beautiful cotton dress embellished with lace and embroidery. I smiled at her, she gave me a nasty look in return and pulled her purse closer to her. On another occasion, I caught a person staring at me and when I looked back, this person acted as if I had caught them doing a bad thing and hastily looked away. So...

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Interview with artist Sarah Cruse

Fri. June 12th 2009 7am

Last year, at the end of Summer 2008, I remember knitting at the Teahouse Townshend on Alberta Street, when suddenly my eye caught this wondrous painting of a breathtakingly beautiful peacock against a black background. I was visually attracted by this painting, it made me stop knitting and I just gazed at the colorful peacock feathers which magically transformed into molecular-ish cell biology depictions. My eyes were interlocked on this mesmerizing peacock painting... I simply couldn't look away. When the exposition was no longer up at the Teahouse, I was sad in my heart...

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Encounter with "Jazzknitter" Ilisha Helfman

Wed. April 29th 2009 5am

Just the other day when I wandered into the knitshop on my day off, I met a colourful lady who literally made my mouth drop and almost left me stupified. She had picked out this book out of our books section called "Knitting Art, 150 innovative works from 18 contemporary artists", flipped it open and told us that she was one of the artists featured. Gingko leaves by Ilisha Helfman Needless to say that we were all impressed and honored that artist Ilisha Helfman, who calls herself "the Jazzknitter", graced our little yarnshop with her presence! Of course I seized the opportunity and...

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Interview with knitwear designer Laura Irwin

Sun. October 26th 2008 6am

I distinctively remember the very first time I saw Laura Irwin. I had just moved to Portland and was knitting at the yarn shop CloseKnit on Alberta Street when a young lady with a very beautiful knitted/felted bag walked by me. As that bag caught my eye, I stopped knitting and asked the young lady were she got that beautiful bag. I was beside myself when she replied that she designed and knitted her bag, but I was even more impressed by the humble and friendly way she carried herself. Little did I know that this humble young woman was a published knit wear designer and that her bag...

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