Knit Pattern: The Rolled Brim Boyfriend Hat

This hat is a quick, inexpensive and easy project to make. It is perfect for winter holiday gift giving.

Supplies:
15” US 9 circular needle
US 9 double pointed needles
1 skein Cascade 220 yarn
Tapestry needle

Thanks for stopping by. This pattern is now available at my etsy store.

The American Museum of Ceramic Art opening, Saturday Nov. 11th

The American Museum of Ceramic Art is announcing the opening of their next exhibition,

Raku: Origins, Impact & Contemporary Expression
November 11 – January 6, 2007
Opening Reception, November 11, 6 – 9pm

This is a great opportunity to enjoy raku pottery created by world renown artists, Tim Andrews, Jean Biagini, Stephen Branfman, Chang-Juan Chang, Patrick Crabb, Aline Favre, Fabienne Gioria, Rick Hirsch, David Jones, Paul Soldner, Jim Romberg, and Toshio Ohi. In addition, the museum gift store will expand to contain handmade raku and other pottery created by artists.

Second Saturdays are ‘art walk night’ in downtown Pomona. There are many galleries that will be open, all within walking distance of AMOCA.

The art of food at Paradise Pastry & Cafe

I have discovered a very tempting reason to be fat… Paradise Pastry & Cafe. It is a huge bakery, deli, and café located in Glendale, CA.

The food was amazingly delicious, the pastry was gorgeous and scrumptious, and the price was right. The café featurs Russian Armenian food.

In my opinion, it is very rare to discover a place where everything I taste gets a gold star. Really, who ever heard of a decorative pastry that tastes better than it looks? I think I may have to monitor my visits to this place, as it could become addictive.

Edgar Arceneaux at SUSANNE VELMETTER LOS ANGELES PROJECTS

Tonight there is an art opening for Edgar Arceneaux at SUSANNE VIELMETTER LOS ANGELES PROJECTS from 6 – 9pm. The title of the exhibition is “The Alchemy of Comedy…Stupid” which features a nine channel video installation with comedian David Alan Greir. This piece examines the structure and nuance, the rapture and pathos of jokes. This exhibition will be on display until December 2nd.

Calling all knit Leia Wigs!

I would love to post a group of knit Leia Wig pictures. If you knit the Leia Wig, please send me an image so I can create a gallery and everyone can see them.
Thank you all!
Ansley Bleu

Art Opening at Bent

On Saturday night I went for a walk after dinner and came across an art opening at Bent, a clothing/art gallery store in South Pasadena on Mission Street. The show was titled Tristan and the Pork Bean Club. There were three illustrators showing, Jeff McMillan, Ronald Llanos, and Thomas Broersma. The gallery had a dj and refreshments to compliment to show.

It was a nice exhibition. I particularly liked the work by Ronald Llanos. His work reminded me of a cross between illustrations of Daniel Clowes and R. Crumb. This exhibit will run through November 21st, 2006.

Container Water Garden

Last year I spent a month in Thailand. Everywhere I went there were these very large ceramic pots filled with water lilies or other water plants and tiny fish. They were so beautiful, and being a big fan of the water lily flower, I know I had to come home and make a container water garden of my own.

I would have liked to get a gorgeous ceramic pot, but they tend to be very expensive. So, a few months ago I was at my local home improvement store and came across a large plastic liner that would perfectly fit the half wine barrel I already had.

A friend of mine who has a pond directed me to Morning Sun Garden in San Gabriel. They had a good selection of pond plants and fish. It turns out that they only had large water lilies that would have been too crowded in my tub. I ended up getting Water Hyacinths, Fairy Moss, Anacharis, Anubius round leaf, Amazon Sword Plant, goldfish, and mosquito fish.

The Water Hyacinth and Fairy Moss float on top of the water. Water Hyacinth has a thick root mass that helps filter the water and the Fairy Moss acts as a sunshade. The fish like to nibble these two plants too. The other plants are submerged and provide habitat and oxygen for the fish. The Anacharis plant provides a lot of oxygen. I also added gravel to the bottom of the pond and a few granite boulders from my front yard to enhance the habitat.

Two other stores in the LA area that have a good selection of pond plants and animals are California Waterscapes and Sunland Water Gardens. It is a great joy to sit outside and watch the fish swim around in the water.

Mosaic Flowerpots

Do you love to have potted plants in your home? If so, here are some beautiful handmade mosaic flowerpots that I have created. The look gorgeous and may be used both inside and outside.

Each mosaic flowerpot is created with colorful pieces of stained glass that I have hand cut and adhered with great care. The flowerpot mosaics are created upon a terracotta base and come in a range of sizes and shapes.

The large sized pot on the left is 10.5" tall and costs $75. Smaller pots cost less. Send me an e-mail if you would like a work of art for your treasured plants.

Travel Coin Bracelet

I have had a small coin collection since I was a child. Many of the coins were from my family’s travels abroad. The coins always sat in a drawer. I wanted to do something with them, but was not sure what.

Recently, my mother came up with this great design to make a bracelet from all those coins. She drilled holes on either side of each coin, domed them, and then linked them with oval jumprings.

She made this one for me that has coins from some of the European counties I have visited. This one has coins from France, Italy, Portugal, Spain, and Greece. It is a fun and inexpensive souvenir.

Autumn Lights 06, art exhibition

Last weekend I went to Little Tokyo in downtown Los Angeles and came across an art opening presented by Lilli Muller in the Eli & Edythe Broad Plaza of the Department of Transportation building. The exhibition was titled Autumn Lights 06.

The plaza was filled with videos projected against different portions of the building, sculptures, installation art and a stage for bands to play. A number of fancifully dressed performers were walking around too. It was a bit like walking around is a tiny tamed down version of Burning Man.

My three favorite art pieces were a transparent car constructed from wire and tape or cellophane by Robert Reynolds, a video mounted on the ceiling of an open glass tower in the building by Robert Drummond , and a black light sensitive installation piece.

Pressed Penny & Nickel Bracelet

My friend Boolane, who is a ranger at Black Rock City, has pennies and nickels pressed each year to give out as presents to the citizens of the city. I made up this bracelet after seeing something similar my mom had created.

Pressed Penny Bracelet

I adore pressed pennies. I have been collecting them since I was a child. A few years ago, while working in a bead store, I had an idea of what to do with all of them. I think of it as a modern day charm bracelet where every penny has a memory of a place I visited.

Leia's white 'A New Hope' gown

Well, now that I have the Leia wig, I was thinking I really need the white gown to go with it. There is a great website that has general instructions on how to make the gown. Included are great instructions on making the belt too. Another website shows how the hood is attached to the gown.

It would be fantastic if there were a whole slew of Leia’s across the globe this Halloween. Megan from Not Martha pointed me to an event that happened in San Francisco a few years ago. Too bad I missed out!

Knit Pattern: The Leia Wig

The inspiration for this pattern came to me one day while shopping in a sporting goods store. I saw this fabulous full length white down coat that reminded me of a Princess Leia outfit. I thought, wow, now that would look great with a knitted ‘wig’ hat. And so, Leia was born.

Materials:
Misti Alpaca Chunky, 2 skeins
100% baby Alpaca
100g/108yd


Thank you viewing this pattern. It is now available at my etsy store:
ansleybleu.etsy.com

Gladding, McBean Exhibition

The American Museum of Ceramic Art has a new exhibition on the way: Color Counts, Gladding McBean Commercial Pottery 1930 - 1950. Color Counts is a nostalgic walk through the 20th century's commercial pottery. Gladding McBean, who was located in California, was the largest ceramic manufacturer west of Chicago.

AMOCA
340 S Garey Ave
Pomona, CA 91766

The exhibition runs September 9th - November 4th. The opening event is Saturday September 9th from 12-10pm.

There will be a special event on Sunday, October 15th from 11a - 5pm featuring author James Elliot Bishop.

Raid Projects art opening

I went to an art opening at Raid Projects in Los Angeles this weekend. The main portion of the gallery featured enormous balloon sculptures by artist Jason Hackenwerth. They were colorful and amazing.

The North gallery featured artwork by artist in residence Aili Schmeltz. They were a series of sculptural installations that are reminiscent of architectural scale models.

Wild Wire Earring Workshop

Would you like to learn how to make these Wild Wire Earrings? I am teaching a workshop next Wednesday, August 2nd from 7-10 pm. It takes place at the San Gabriel Bead Company in Arcadia, CA.

Fee: $35 plus materials. A materials list of items you need to bring to class is provided when you sign.

American Museum of Ceramic Art

There is a new museum in Pomona, CA called the American Museum of Ceramic Art (AMOCA). It is a gorgeous little space dedicated to all things clay. Their current exhibition, Musical Mud, exhibits ancient and modern musical instruments made from clay. I have a new job there as the Curitorial Assistant. I am very excited.

My First Sweater, pt. 1

I am going to knit the Ballet Wrap Cardigan sweater which was on the cover of the winter '05 Interweave Knits. It will be my first. I received the Colinette Prism yarn in Kingfisher color as a birthday gift. It is beautiful, but the dyelot was really dark. I was hoping for a more purple/blue/green look, rather than navy blue with tiny amounts of purple/green. After much thinking, I realized the thin yarn binder is cotton and the rest of the yarn is wool. Wool and cotton take different types of dye. I could over dye the cotton to bring in more color without ruining the wool! Here is the result.

*Sous Le Soleil* An Outdoor Artist Sale

Sous Le Soleil (Under the Sun)
An Outdoor Artist Sale

Saturday July 15th
2 - 7 pm
330 Redwood Drive
Pasadena, CA

Featured Artists:
Ian Atol, Kari Atol, Tyn Atol, Ansley Davies, Renee Dominique,
Shari Enge, Emily Eto, Jennifer Morris, Denise Young

Live music by C. K. T.

Items for sale:
Original artwork, handmade jewelry, mosaic flowerpots, clothing and more.