Selling Knits & Crafts for the Holidays!

Hey there, I'm selling knitted items and gifts for the holidays! I've been crafting for the past ten years, and can do custom items (such as stuffed animals) as well as the standard hats, scarves, bags, and gloves. Check out some of the work I've done after the jump and email me at jordanalam@gmail.com for orders and specifications. Happy gifting!

CED: Sweaters to Wear and Zines to Read

I haven't been creative every day for a while (although, yesterday's zine-making video clearly kicked me into high gear), but I have been thinking about it just as much. So, it was time to put my money where my mouth is and start creating again! Here are my three newest projects:

I started this sweater back in the summertime, but shelved it due to increased working hours and lowered sleep levels. I am proud to say that it came out wonderfully - it is the first sweater that I've made that actually fits me, and that is something that deserves a round of applause.

Yesterday, I read at a zine event called Meet Me at the Race Riot, which kickstarted me into making an entirely new zine. I've had this impetus for a while now, but the deadline really pushed me from the brink of "I'll get around to it" into the ravine of "I need to get this done now." Here is the lovely result! You can get it in print or in a PDF if you email me - I have elected not to put up this edition electronically just yet.

And the final image is one of my on-the-job projects: I help put together this board for the Meet Me at the Race Riot event - it's got a vector image of myself holding a sign and a bunch of amazing zinesters' works put up there - my job is the coolest!

Check out some past Creative Every Day postings, some of my other knitting adventures, or perhaps some more of my zines and paper art.

CED Round-Up: Seattle Pride Parade!

This week was event-filled and awesome, so a lot of the work I was doing happened outside - particularly at the Seattle Pride Parade, in which I fanatically snapped pictures of everything from the Washington Bus Summer Fellows to the amazing outfits that people adorned. Check it out after the jump - and yes, there will be dancing.

 

Like The Cowation on Facebook to see more of the pics!

CED Round-Up: Visual Learners Unite!

This week's round-up is a bit late because I just arrived back from a retreat with the Washington Bus, but it is here nonetheless! I did some exploration this week by way of photography and, when indoors, did some writing and drawing on my Wacom tablet. I will learn you yet, Wacom!

Check out some more of the Creative Everyday series, or some more of my photography, writing, and knitting.

CED Round-Up: Allergies, Aliens, and South Asian Lovers

I have been experimenting with short fiction this week, or at least scenes that tell a standalone story; I have written about everything from aliens (as part of my new serial fiction, The Observer) to time travelers, allergies, and South Asian lovers. Check out what I've been writing (and knitting in between keyboard marathons) after the jump!

CED Roundup: Bears, Knitting, and Growing Ideas

My Creative Every Day hopes this week were somewhat diminished as I found that I had a lot of ideas, but nowhere to go with them - thus, next week's goal will be implementing those ideas and seeing how it all turns out. The pictures this week reflect my new sweaterdress project at different stages of its completion, my urge to draw bears, and some design changes to The Cowation logo in order to fit with the Facebook parameters - speaking of which, you can now Like The Cowation on Facebook, as I have set up a new Page for it!

 Thurs: All the blog ideas I had when I was interlinking archived posts for days on The Cowation.

 Fri: This is the back piece of my sweaterdress at just an itty bitty rib area of 16 rows. Working my way on up to 19". 

 "There was little in this world that kept her attention so much as the strange boxes that projected to these humans images of themselves. They were square and often large, spreading from wall to wall in some of the rooms she had seen. They came with control boxes or with sensors that would accept data disks and present whole new worlds to their viewers... Without the boxes, the humans were alone and unconnected, unlike most other animals."

"She found it difficult to watch the autopsies in progress. After spending countless hours encoding their information into the system, holding conversations with them, feeling empathy for their successes and failures, to see an individual human lain out on a table made her shudder. She knew that her cover profession as an investigator made it necessary, but it was never her favorite part of it."

Sat: I worked a bit more on the serial fiction story; above are two more excerpts from the upcoming work.

 

Sun: This is the back piece of my sweaterdress at 11.5" - motoring on towards 19".

Mon: I did some re-designing for the Facebook Page of my button and splash.

Tues: I originally wanted to draw a person, but it evolved into this clown bear in a box. Also, the lens flare is starting to grate on me - I must do better with lighting.

Weds: This is the back piece of my sweaterdress at 16" - working my way to 19"!

Check out some more drawings of bears in my collaborative comic The Bearniverse.
Take a look at previous Creative Every Day posts.

Project x Project: Sweaterdress Beginnings

I walked miles in the heat of day last week to arrive at the Redmond-based craft store Ben Franklin, my favorite local yarn shop (LYS). I mulled over yarns of differing color and weight, imagining their eventual feel and drape on my body, feeling them as I would a lover between my fingers...

Eh heh... well, I do get quite giddy when I make a new yarn purchase. Anyway, a few weeks back I began dreaming of a sweaterdress that I wanted to make as a summer project, and I have finally settled down with yarn and needles to start it! In fact, I may even try to do two if time allows. The pattern for the first one, called "Monica's Tunic" and offered through RedHeart, can be found here.

Although it is not technically a "sweaterdress" according to the pattern, this tunic will be long enough by completion to fit me like one (short people are awesome). I have decided to make it out of a brown and blue variegated (self-striping) yarn that is chunky instead of worsted, which meant that I have to alter the pattern in order to make it knit up correctly. After one tireless hour of crunching the numbers, I have my pattern set up for the rest of this voyage. Updates will come as the piece continues to grow!

Check out what else I've been knitting.

Breaking New Work: Etsy Shop Listings & New Pages

You know that link at the top of this page that says Etsy on it? It has intentionally been left as a non-working link because I had not yet set up the items in my store. But no longer! My Etsy shop is now officially stocked! I have put up an array of knitted items that I made a while ago, as well as some zines from the past. Please check out the pieces and send me an email if you are interested in commissioning an order. Now that we are heading into summer time at a fast clip, I will be making new items both for myself and for the Etsy shop, so if you have a specific request, please let me know!

In other related news: I have created a Twitter account and a Tumblr page. You can access me in these new ways by looking for @thecowation on Twitter and clicking on the banner link above that says Tumblr.

Here are some of the items that I am currently selling on Etsy:

You can also see what else I've been knitting.
Or check out some more posts featuring my photography.

Project x Project: Sweaterdress Fantasies

Ok, so I know that summer is approaching. And I know that my attire will soon be changing from heavy winter coats and thick stockings to light dresses and t-shirts.

But I am still fantasizing about a sweaterdress.

Ever since making my skirt project, I have wanted to move onto other sorts of knitted clothing. I have had a few sweater-making fiascos in the past, but I hope that this time I can get everything just right and make me a fabulous sweaterdress. This will be my great summer project, something to move slowly and carefully on, something to ponder about endlessly until it finally comes to fruition.

Here are some of the patterns I've been contemplating*:

Project x Project: Pressing the Record Button

A project that I have wanted to launch for a while, but have not yet dared to test out, is to read some of my work aloud and read them as podcast-like posts for this blog. Today I am taking the plunge. I will start with a story* that I wrote for a creative writing class I did last semester, since that seemed related to the previous post I put up about academics and creativity. Enjoy, and be sure to tell me how I did in the comments!

*This story will also be posted after the jump for people who choose to or can only read it rather than hear it. Yay!

Farewell, America!

In less than 24 hours, I'll be on a plane. Waiting for an 18 hour flight to begin and counting down the hours until I am halfway across the world - further abroad than I've ever been in my life. And I'll be amidst people who look like me. Any guesses as to where I'm headed? I'll give you a hint: it starts with a Bangla- and ends with an -desh.
That's right, I'll be heading to the mother country for the entire break. Three and a half weeks of balmy weather that is the polar opposite of Manhattan right now. Three and a half weeks of family, new experiences in a new country, amazing photographic opportunities, and time without a cell phone or a laptop.
Can I say that again? No cell phone and no laptop. It scares me just to think about it. But that means that I won't be posting up anything for the next three and a half weeks unless I get the rare opportunity to get on the internet for an extended period of time. You'll hear from me some time in January, with a plethora of amazing stories and lived experiences. Or so I hope.

On another note, although it is a little late for the Tuesday Project x Project post, I finished my skirt! I actually got buttons, if you can believe it. I feel so accomplished to have finished everything before I left Enjoy the pictures below, and have a great winter!

Check out some more knitting projects that I've done.
And take a look at some of the photography that came as a result of my trip to Bangladesh at my DeviantArt.

Project x Project: Minor Frustration

Why is there not a button to be found in Manhattan past 6pm? Honestly, I have to get this out of my system - there are no craft stores in the city it seems that are open past 6pm and, even without craft stores being open, there is nowhere that will give me buttons! I even went into Urban Outfitters and attempted to buy the extra buttons that you get with coats off of them, but no, you must buy the entire coat for one little button. But, I digress.
This week has been otherwise a really good one for projects; I have finished my skirt (except, of course, for sewing the buttons on), I have started a new Photoshop project, and I am generally closing up shop for the year. It's nice, but also sad. My Etsy won't open until January for logistical reasons (such as: how will I ship if I'm overseas?) and there are a lot of things milling about in my head that I can definitely put into motion come next year.
But for now, it's all about taking a break from my regularly scheduled programming and starting something new. Sewing? Cooking? I've said these things before, but there are probably other things that I want to work with while I'm away. I was thinking about doing some more intense photography things over the winter break and also perhaps doing a bit of drawing, as I have indulged myself by getting a new sketchbook.

Anyway, that is all for later! For now, I have to get over my frustration at the small things. All my projects are coming together quite nicely, but they are taking a bit more time and effort than I thought. Such is the way of the errant crafter...

Check out the final result of this skirt project!

Project x Project: Skirts and Artwork

I am working now on my second mysterious knitting project - a teal wool pleated skirt (pattern courtesy of Knitty). I won't show you a picture of it just yet, but I am about halfway done with that and I am working towards the finish line hopefully before I leave the country - and my knitting needles - behind.
I have also made the decision to launch my Etsy shop once I have returned to campus in January because I don't believe it would be possible to sell my things from Bangladesh. In the meantime, I'll be working on some new pieces for it, which is really exciting!
In the meantime, enjoy a new drawing that I made to celebrate the end of classes and tie a lot of my photographs together:

(click to see it better)

And, as for goals for the winter break and the future, I really want to learn some cooking and hand sewing. I know the simple work of both of them, but it will take some dedication to get me past just repairing a hole or cooking a very simple curry. Wish me luck!

See the finished skirt project!
And check out some more drawings and art that I have created.

Project x Project: Headwrap Complete

Victory in the face of finals!
I have completed the knit headband (one of my two secret projects, in case you were keeping score), and it's glory is featured above!
Having other projects like that one really keeps me sane in the face of other more overwhelming tasks, like art projects and essays. I am occasionally asked why I like to be crafty and make things with my hands, and I think that this is the true reason. It is something that I can do with my body rather than my mind, and it helps me de-stress in a lot of ways. Although sometimes it can be a little stressful - as when I am folding 20 zines in the computer lab and checking how much time I have left until class - at least it is something that I enjoy doing and something that rewards me at its completion.
Have a happy Tuesday, everyone!

Check out some other creative projects and knitting that I've pursued.

Project x Project: Setting Up Shop

I feel that sometimes I stick my fingers in too many pies, but since it was Thanksgiving last week, I figured it can't hurt to stick them in one more. I have had some really gorgeous knitted items for selling that have been hanging around my room since last year and I just haven't had the gumption to put them out there on display. So, when my roommate bought a sapphire ring off of Etsy and told me about the wonders of that website, I suddenly became very interested.
Although I am not the world's most prolific crafter, I know that I can do commission pieces in 1-4 days if given the time (and depending on the size of the piece!). I also, by actually going on the site, realized that people don't just sell craft-related things - they sell zines too! And this is one of the major problems I have been having as a startup zinester. How do you get your work out there to an audience that you have no idea about? It's much less public than blogging and a lot more intimate of a relationship, so far as I'm concerned.
So, tonight, I will enter Phase 1 of my plan to sell crafty things on Etsy. Phase one includes: taking stock of the items, taking grand product photographs, pricing the items. Perhaps by this weekend, I will enter Phase 2: setting up the actual internet space.

Wish me luck! And stop on in when the shop is up if you have a need for any of the following goods/services.
1. Knitted goods
2. Knitting or bookbinding lessons
3. Commission wire jewelry
4. Commission knitted items
5. Commission hand-made books or journals
6. Zines

Check out the fruition of this plan at my current Etsy shop!

Monday Muse: A New Lease

Yesterday, I started right-hand knitting. I have previously been a loyal left-hand knitter, claiming obstinately that I did not know how to do that other technique, and I didn't care to learn. But then I came up against a problem. Every time I tried to knit something tightly in the left-hand method, it turned out too loose.
This impacts mostly things that need to be shaped accurately to a correct size (for instance, if I were trying to make a sweater, I don't want it to show off my skin underneath). I tried everything to remedy it: smaller needles, holding the yarn tighter, thicker yarn... all the things that you would do if you were an experimental knitter like I am. And yet there was no way to get that tight clean look with my traditional way.
So, I caved. I watched a video, picked up some pieces of scrap yarn, and started knitting right hand. And, admittedly, it wasn't that bad. In fact, I think that it was important to open myself up to the experience.
I believe that we often stick with what we know. Sometimes that's for the better, so we don't sound stupid when making an argument or in a polite conversation. But sometimes, and maybe even most of the time, it also means that we aren't challenging ourselves and our own expectations.
A lot of people tell you to challenge yourself: teachers, parents, coaches... but often they are talking about something that they want you to do. So what about you? What do you think will get you out of a rut or at least give you another perspective on what you are already doing? Would you do it? When?
As human beings, we only have this one life. So, as a friend of mine keeps saying to me, you have to do exactly what you want because you don't know when your time will be up. Maybe that thing that you continually refuse will give you a new lease on life.

I encourage you today to think of something - just think of it, even if you don't have the materials or express need to do it right now - that you want to do outside of your usual realm. There is always something out there beyond the realm of your expectations, and that might just jump-start you to go on to even greater things.

And, as an aside, if you go to Barnard or Columbia, look out for a knitting study break in a few weeks - we are going to do some de-stress activities and hopefully get everyone knitting as a way of taking your mind off of finals. Let me know if you're interested in coming!

I am trying out a new weekly blog post schedule - I enjoyed writing a daily blog post this month, so I think I want to keep that up, just with a little more structure in the coming months. Stay tuned for some interesting posts to come!

The Relaxation Manifesto

Something that I have to remind myself of every day I take off: the meaning of relaxation is to not to think about its end.

This vacation has been about that principle in a lot of ways - staying in the present and enjoying the minutes, forgetting (or at least being ok with the idea that) you are skipping work in favor of having fun, mind melding with the random people you meet and not questioning it.
I must admit, this vacation has been a ride of emotions for me. I have felt at times thankful, lonely, annoyed, ludicrously happy, tired, regretful about work, reflective and truly sad. If this weekend was a microcosm for my life, then it did a pretty good job in representation.
As I sit down trying to finish NaNo and thinking about my priorities for tomorrow's work catch-up day, I wonder about why I am so focused on the past and the future. The feeling that I last posted about in The Real Thanksgiving is something that I wish I could commit to, but it has been the hardest struggle just to achieve it for a couple of hours. I am always thinking about the moment that it will pass or change.

Anyway, perhaps the solution is not to dwell on those subjects for the time being. Switching mindsets, here is a list of some of the truly amazing things I did in this short weekend:

1. Finished my alien color scarf (pictured above)
2. Met up with friends from Seattle who go to East Coast schools (and made a new friend out of one of their roommates!)
3. Explored Manhattan at night and walked for hours and hours on end
4. Followed the Macy's Thanksgiving Day Parade from 66th to 34th street on foot
5. Bought fancy fancy yarn for two upcoming projects (not telling what they are till they're finished!)
6. Ate Thanksgiving dinner twice: once alone at a great restaurant and the second time with fabulous friends from pre-college!
7. Made goat cheese mashed potatoes and pumpkin cream pie (so bomb!)
8. Walked the Brooklyn Bridge from end to end in the nighttime (by the way, whose idea was it to have see-through wooden slats on the Brooklyn Bridge walking path?)
9. Talked philosophy and other hardcore subjects late into the night with AU friend affectionately known as Catskill
10. Spent time eating excellent Bengali food with my friend in Queens

Thank you everyone who made this weekend special and great.

Want to see what else I've been knitting?

I Feel Pretty, Oh So Pretty...

Today (and yesterday), I have embarked on the Make J Pretty scheme. It's not just for prom, though that seems like the most obvious reason. No, in truth, I have just found the urge to make myself pretty for myself and my new boyfriend [Joshka, if you were wondering - see Facebook or this picture, haha]. And so, I have set off into a bevy of woman-ish things that are not so reviling as I thought. Shock and awe, shock and awe.
I got my eyebrows and upper lip done by threading today... it was crazy because the woman just used a piece of thread to rake across the skin and take up the hairs (ouch! I definitely teared up, but it was surprisingly less painful than plucking and took less time). The results were fabulous!
I also have started using the curly girl hair method, which has kept my hair from frizzing up and going out like a wild horn beast. Yay!
Tomorrow, I am going soap shopping. For good stuff this time. Yesterday, I downsized my nail polish, hair accessories, and products (to the overture of Eminem, Pitbull, Carrie Underwood, and a bunch of other singers whose names I have no use in remembering), so now it's time to look for quality over quantity. It's a mission that has sorely bested me since the time of yore. On a related note, tomorrow I have to bite the bullet and buy some makeup so that Abby can help me do it for prom. Heathy has suggested that I should go to a makeup counter if I want to learn how to do the stuff myself (which I do now... since I feel kind of rude for asking someone to help me apply makeup, I would like to learn at least the basics) and I think I will do that sometime this week or next. Ah, womanhood...
My hair will be trimmed and done by Raymond, as usual, on Saturday, but before then it is a race to shave all the other annoying hairs (legs and armpits, for those who assumed the worst).
I spoke to Kita about his opinions on whether a girl should wear makeup and smell good and all of those traditional things, and I think his answer was quite promising. You don't need (and, actually, don't want) to be too made up or anything. For me, this is a good sign. It means, first, that all men have their preferences, but that I generally don't have to spend forever trying to be anything but hygienic [showers with good soaps, regularly getting haircuts and eyebrows done, basic makeup on good occassions...] And, of course, the most important thing is to keep in shape and not look like a slob. Gym time!
I believe that it took me just a little longer to understand the girl things than other people... perhaps I was resisting out of gender-biased fear. But now, rather than being one of the guys, I kind of feel like it's cool to be the girl with the guys. Makes sense, I hope.

Anyway, the picture that I took today was of Gerald [the socktopus that I tried to make a long time ago out of scrap yarn and dreams...]. It wasn't a particularly good picture, so I used my Photoshop skill to make it slightly more acceptable. Hoorah!

I am grateful for...
The ability to communicate my feelings. Even when that's not always a positive thing, just being able to tell someone else that I am feeling this way or that really benefits me and allows compassion in.

Check out some more posts featuring my photography.

Tangential

10 True Statements:
I am challenging myself to stay calm.
I must be obsessing over extreme crops and fabric shots.
I watched The Daily Show interview with Jim Cramer - and got freaked out about our economy [again].
I would like to make a collage, but I can only slave away over knit squares.
I should never eat lunch right before practice; my sides started cramping so bad I had to walk the mile yesterday.
I am secretly [now not-so] grateful that the game was canceled (partly because of the time off and partly because I really want to play in our first match).
I am going to tolo with Quinn.
I told Da to make a vegetable soup today - and it actually tasted good!
I found out I like cabbage, which is weird.
I let my anger/frustration come back today, and, no matter what I tried to make it go away, it got the better of me.
The 11th True Statement:
I am really excited for tomorrow because it concludes the week, concludes my PPP, begins and concludes Group IV, and allows me to start my creative process again. Hoorah!

Check out some more posts featuring my photography.
And, if you like the photo, see what else I've been knitting!

"Our Love Don't Have to Change... No It Don't... Have to Change..."

I wish I could photograph sound, because I have been listening to John Legend's first CD [Get Lifted] over and over again in my car, at my house and in my head... My goodness, so much soul music! It preserves me emotionally.
There is really little to say otherwise. Here is the latest on my Goal of the Month Plus+ plan.

“Jeza! How are you doing? What’s going on? I feel like I haven’t talked to you in ages…” Leo’s voice rang with excitement and Jezabelle could almost feel the phone vibrating in her fingers.
“Leo, when can I fly down and see you?” she responded, covering her head with a corduroy pillow.
“What’s up, babe? Man in your life? Or are you just homesick?”
Whenever she spoke to him on the phone, Leo’s voice was perched somewhere between ADHD and springing puppy; even when he was concerned, she could hear the excitement leap from his throat. She wondered if that was the reason he had married so early – Sylvia could keep him at bay whenever his emotions got the better of him.
She breathed out a tired sigh. “There’s no one…”
“So is that the reason? No one is the codeword for ‘I’m lonely and need to hide on my friend Leo’s couch for three days’?”
“Can we make it three weeks?”
“Sorry, babe, we just can’t keep a downer in the house for that long. You’ll mess up the sheets if you cry for three weeks!”
Jezabelle snickered, wondering why she had ever moved away.
“Well, if I can’t invite you in, what else can I do for you? Set you up an e-profile? Find you a blind date? Mix up an airborne love potion that will make all men fall at your feet?”
“The last one would be nice.”
“Cheer up – you sound like a wet cat.” Now he was really getting concerned.
“No, Leo, I’m fine… I just need to see people that I actually like, you know? There’s no one around here for me and I feel like I’m just spinning my wheels…”
“Well, why not take a vacation? Go to the beach, meet someone, have a torrid romance… and then decide whether you want to come back home or not. Couldn’t hurt, could it?”
Leo’s ideas were always so childlike and simple – she wondered why she couldn’t think of them. She mouthed words of protest, but he wouldn’t take any of them.
“Take a few days, seriously. Get out of the house and don’t tell anyone where you’re going.”

The picture for today is of my billowy sleeve (can you tell I love these thrift store finds?), the red beret I wore today and my lucky bracelet. It is a testament to getting my tripod back - oh Gloria, how I missed you.

Check out some more posts featuring my photography.
More writing and stories are also available for your reading pleasure.