Modeling & Acting

From the UMass Playhouse 433 Series.

Leading Ladies written and directed by Ben Skinner

Starring Josie- Kt Baldassaro            Liza- Sabrina Gogan            Mr. Billings- Ed Patterson

www.go-ask-alex.com

Dir: Spencer Fox Peterson

Air Date: Live on Channel 15 in western MA on 3/11/09 3pm

Due to the nature of our product (crafting supplies) more often than not I’ll see someone walk into our store wearing something totally unique and 100% handmade. Less often do I find out that I TOO can have that wicked awesome item; until recently. A trend is emerging. Esty is seeping into everything!

For those of you who are unaware of what etsy (www.etsy.com) is:

Etsy is an online marketplace for buying & selling all things handmade.

Our mission is to enable people to make a living making things, and to reconnect makers with buyers.

Our vision is to build a new economy and present a better choice:

Buy, Sell, and Live Handmade.

The items shown above, as well as the item show below are all available online from the artist’s persona etsy shop. Above are the works of a local Northampton artist, Kathryn Swanson. I noticed her wearing a pair of these beautiful felted earrings the moment she walked into the store. From afar they seemed to be peacock feathers with strung beads; which was lovely, however upon closer inspection I realized that they were not feathers at all but rather life-like needle felting. Needless to say I felt very envious, until much later I was talking to my colleague Christa Hughmanick (ItKnits) about the customer. Long story short: Christa is close friends with the artist/customer who makes those earrings, among many other very cute items, and she would arrange the purchasing of a pair for me. ^_^ In the conversation she also mentioned that Kathryn made change purses with an image of Obama screen printed on them along with the phrase, “Change”, ergo, “Change Change Purses.” The idea tickled me in a highly erudite way. These items are not only on sale via esty, they can be purchased at Guild Art Supply (100 Main Street Northampton, MA). I picked up a few as gifts immediately. The pun pleases people.

I absolutely adore the necklaces that another colleague of mine, Malea Rhodes of Celadon Studios, (I know it’s sickening how talented the staff here is!) is making. She initially put out a few necklaces on her desk to promote a staff class version of a class she will be teaching at the store this coming school session on how to make ceramic beads. Instantly there was a flurry of snatching and dibbing and soon there was hardly an unclaimed one. It was like watching people pick puppies; they knew they wanted one, it was just a matter of which.

I’ve been long obsessed with Tree of Life pendants, but have never been able to find one that I really like. When I saw Malea’s version I was struck. To explain why we’ll have to have a little religion lesson, don’t worry, it won’t be boring!

The tree of life/world tree in Norse paganism is known as Yggdrasil. It’s branches reach to the heavens and it’s roots dig deep into the earth, to locations not known to man. Upon this tree the cheif god, Odin, hung himself by one foot for nine nights, while he was pierced with his own spear, which by the by, was made from Yggdrasil. He did this in order to learn the wisdom of the ruins, which would give him power in the nine realms of existence.

In essence this tree of life, which is still meant to be a symbol of the interconnected nature of all beings, is a gallow. There is an interpretation of the etymology where “Yggdrasil” refers to the word “Yggr” or “terror”, making the tree’s name “tree of terror.” I think this is an important part of the world tree’s image. Much like the Ying Yang, the World Tree should show the juxtaposition of it’s mythology. All the plastic, silver, intricate, whirly, girly Tree of Life pendants I’ve come across and passed on were because they weren’t able to attain that duality. Malea’s pendant encapsulates that for me. The soft colour of the porcelain is like snow quietly contrasting it’s stark linear black branches all akimbo reaching to the heavens. There’s a subtle yggr there, but it remains a peaceful symbol of the sacrifice for knowledge. Thank you so much Malea. I really adore this piece.

Finally I’ll cut out on an inspirational note: Inspired by all these lovely handmade necklaces I made the piece below by sewing a bird bead onto a lovely bed of needle felted cashmere. I even strung it with yarn (if you have a good eye you’ll know that’s Berroco Seduce!) It was for Christa’s birthday this weekend.

Phew, I can’t believe it’s already been a week since we’ve been back from Stitches West 2009. Between the stressful flights back (a foot of snow fell on the east coast the day before our flights!) and the throat cold I had while I was there I’m only just beginning to feel recovered. The cold I blame on having to shakes hands with all the children at the fencing tournament I attended the weekend before we left; luckily I was too busy at the event to even have time to experience the cold. It was a lot of fun to get to see all of our west coast customers, get inspired by new yarns, eat out at fantastic restaurants and show off my latest designs. I absolutely love these events and can’t wait til the next one, for which I will be dosing up on vitamins and wearing gloves the week before. No more test bunny at the conventions.

It was nice to sleep in yesterday, as I badly needed it. I never got time to recover from the west coast jet lag because, although I took the day after we landed off, I had a television shoot that day. I’m very excited; my friend Ed Patterson, from Go Ask Alex, hooked me up with a class at UMass, where the students are creating vignettes and shooting them live for public access. However, they don’t have actors! This is a problem I can surely fix. The piece I worked on this week was, Liquid Courage, directed by Mike Trainor, about a down on his luck guy who tries a magical approach towards finding the perfect girl. I play the perfect girl. ^_~ I’ll ry and get a video of it up on the site asap, if possible. I’ve already been asked back for this weeks story, Mr Hyde Goes to Therapy, directed by Spencer Peterson (Wet Paint Productions). I play the therapist; well they can’t all be type casts. hehe.

It was also nice to sleep in because I went to the midnight premiere of Watchmen on Thursday (technically Friday) night. I couldn’t help myself. It feels like we’ve been waiting for this moving to come out forever. I remember checking imdb frantically when Jeremy told us they had images of the Night Owl in costume. I loved the film. I can’t possibly say enough good things about it. Despite rumours of bad casting (Keanu Reeves as Dr Manhattan >_<!!), all the acting choices were superb. I couldn’t get over how much Malin Akerman looked like Laurie Jupiter, especially considering that she’s a bleach blonde Swedish babe. And I cannot go without saying that I loved Jackie Earle Haley as Roschach. Then again, I might be biased as he’s my favourite character from the novel. What really amazed me the most about the mastery of Zac Synder and Larry Fong (DP) was how my mind kept schisming into the visuals I knew from Dave Gibbons (original illustrator) and the film itself, only to then be drawn into an eeiry concordance of graphic match deja vu, where my mind through the cell from the novel up onto the screen and it fell seemlessly ontop of the frame from the film. This happened so much so that I could see the word bubbles, and fonts (particularly for Roschach) popping up and matching what was being said. The two scenes that this sticks in my head the most for this are the inital meeting between Roschach and Dan Dreiberg: there’s a pan out leaving Dan on the steps, Archie in the lower left corner, and Roschach is walking away down the tunnel; and the entire series of images where Roschach is telling the therapist about the night Walter Kovacs died. The latter of the two is so close to the novel that it feels like a scene for scene fleshing out of the novel’s cells. This isn’t bad, in fact it’s fantastic, however, it does send the mind down a weird sensory path.

I’ve been trying all week to explain to people what this movie is about and why I’m so excited, but I really haven’t been able to. To say that it’s a movie adaptation of a graphic novel written by Alan Moore is simply factual. To try and go further and explain that until then people hadn’t been questioning the actual lives of superheros, and that this novel moves towards asking questions that allow us to see the moral ambiguity of mask vigilantes, their psychological disorders, and the blurring or “good” and “evil”,  leaves you trying to go further and further into the topic until your friend’s eyes have glazed over and you find yourself simply shouting, “The Dark Knight?”, “Arkyum Asylum?!”, “V for Vendetta?!”… SIN CITY? And so I’ve come to resign myself to simply knowing that if you don’t know why you should see Watchmen, then you probably shouldn’t. Read the graphic novel and then rent it on DVD or something.

Air Date 2/7/09

MAD Z Productions

This weekend I wrapped on principle photography for my latest project, “Go Ask Alex”.” In fact, the whole product wrapped on principle photography this week! I had a lot of fun working on this project and even made a new friend with my costar, Emily O’Neill, whom I have so much in common with it verges on magnificent and eerie at the same time. The film is a modern adaptation on the Lewis Caroll’s Alice in Wonderland. Emily and I play versions of Tweedle Dee and Tweedle Dumb, respectively. However, the screenwriter was kind enough to name my character Dinah, and Emily’s Dee. I’m not going to ruin anything else about it with spoilers. Needless to say it’s a very funny script and I cannot wait drag everyone I know to the premiere. ^_~

Let’s talk about variegated yarn! I never really thought I’d say that, mostly because I’m not a sock knitter. Perhaps I could be talking into doing something like Cookie A German Stocking, but only because you can wear a skirt and show off your knee-highs without looking crazy/absurd. I’m sorry, but open toed sandals and sock are just never acceptable, and I’m not even doing to address the see-through clog phenomenon. I digress.

Lately in the store we’ve received two variegated yarns that I have fallen in love with. The first is pictured above. It’s Classy from Dream in Colour. ( 100% Merino Wool; 4.5 sts/inch (US 7-8); 250 yards / 4 oz: “Machine Wash Delicate” ) I gave the project to Fxa at the store. We had both knit the pattern last Christmas out of some Debbie Bliss Cashmerino Aran in a discontinued colour, so I immediately thought of her when giving out the piece. In fact I gave it to her on a Saturday, and then that Monday she had the hat for me. I swear Fxa’s knitting speed rivals most and keeps me pushing to knit faster every day!  ^_^ The pattern is by Jared Flood and is available for purchase online from Knitting Daily, since the issue of Interweave Knits that it was originally published in is now out of print. Normally I wouldn’t assign a variegated yarn from a heavily cabled pattern, but the DiC Classy has such a subtle change in colour, resulting in small hints of different hues that it really takes well to a textured knit. Since it’s a nice worsted weight machine washable I’d love to see it used in place of Debbie Bliss’s Cashmerino Aran on a nice cabled sweater or children’s jumper.

I don’t have a finished picture as of yet for the other yarn we just got in, but it should be all finished soon. I also apologize for how blurry this photo above is. It’s of Schoppel-Wolle Yarns’ Zauberball ( 75% virgin wool/ 25 % nylon; 7-8 sts/inch (US 2-3); 420m/100g : “Machine Washable” ). I just love saying the name of this yarn. As you can see below I seperated the yarn into two balls. I used a kitchen scale and stopped winding the first ball halfway through. I noticed at the halfway point the yarn was at the opposite point in the colour reptition it was at at the beginning of the ball. Which is to say that if you wanted to socks with the same colour transitions you would have to either pull from the outside of the second ball, or rewind it again to start both socks at the same point in the colourway. However, what I had in mind for this yarn works perfectly with this property of the yarn. I’m making the transition gloves from Shi Bui Patterns. Instead of using two completely different solid colours like they did in the original pattern I’m going to use a technique I’ve heard people in the shop refer to as “the Noro technique.” Basically it means using one colourway of a variegated yarn in a pattern that requires colour stranding. Where the pattern would normally call for a different colourway of the yarn you simply use the same colourway but at a different point in the colour transition. This way your work transitions in the colourwork pattern like a nice Kauni sweater. I’m really curious to see what will result with this technique and this pattern, since the pattern is designed to make solid coloured yarn look like transitioning yarn, what will happen with transitioning yarn in a transitioning pattern! Madness I say, madness. Perhaps oscillation? Only time will tell.

This past weekend my mom came up to visit me and cash-in on her Christmas present: an introduction to spinning class at the store.

My father bought my mom a really beautiful hand-made Saxony spinning wheel for their wedding anniversary, but she was never really sure, or confident, on how to use it. So I figured it would not only help her out to take the class, but would undoubtedly be a fun weekend.

The class was instructed by Barbara Parry of Foxfire Fibers & Designs. She was a fantastic teacher, very knowledgeable and sweet, and she was able to help my mom with her wheel even though it was not made by a standard company. I had a wonderful time, and I feel like I learned so much, not only about spinning and the wheels, but about fiber options and yarn construction. I feel like a better balanced fiber artist now, no pun intended. (Bless your poor heart if you get that joke for you’re as far off the deep end as I.)

I produced some pretty consistent and thin singles within the first day, this I attribute to having spent several months working with varying weights of drop spindles and really working on my drafting technique. Although I do draft, technically, in the incorrect manner, which is to say that I let the twist in and feed the machine with my left hand, while drafting the fibers with my right. Barbara noted that most instructors say to use your most articulated and dominate hand for feeding the machine, but then also said that what ever felt the most comfortable was fine. She too works “goofy” handed. I attribute this favouring of the left hand to the spinner’s style of knitting. Within the class that I attended everyone who fed the yarn in with their right hand knitted in the American style, while everyone who did it with the left hand knitted continental. It makes sense because when you knit continental you use your left hand to act as a tension/gauge, which is primarily the function of the feeding hand in spinning: it brings the yarn into the final project (the bobbin/knitting item).

Well enough postulating for tonight. I’m gonna end with a very lovely photograph of myself and Kate Jacobs, the author of ‘Knit Two,’  the sequel to the New York Times Best Seller, ‘Friday Night Knitting Club.’ She came to the store January 7th to do a book signing. Unfortunately the weather wound up being slightly less friendly than we’d hoped, however, Kate was still able to show up and the event went on! There was, as with any store event, an abundance of little tasty treats to nibble on while she did a reading from the book. It was really nice and I want to thank her again for coming and for signing the book for my Mom.

I’m gonna start off with some good news to report! I’m officially booked for my first hand modeling gig with John Polak for an upcoming ‘how to knit’ book from Storey Publishing. I’m gonna have to first get a manicure to get my nails all the same. Damn scrounging around on the floor in the dirty cement stock rooms! I don’t know where to go though, as I have never gone anywhere in NoHo for a manicure. Anyone have a suggestion?
Shooting for my next independent film, ‘Blacklight’, has begun. I had a lot of fun at the shoot this Monday night. Ah there’s nothing quite like working 8hrs then driving 2 hrs to a location to shoot for 7 hrs, drive back, and go to work again at nine. It was actually not too bad. Everyone on cast is really nice to work with, and no one didn’t know there lines (haha double negative!) which is something that usually holds up shoots interminably. So it went pretty smoothly. I’ve only got two more nights on set and I’m wrapped. If they go just like this one I’ll have to declare ‘Blacklight’ the cleanest stress-free shoot. ::knock on wood::
I finally finished an article of clothing with my sewing machine, without a pattern, that is fully functional and I wore it to work yesterday! Everyone thought it was very flattering, and Pixie even came up to me and said, “Kt, where do you get all these adorable vintage tops?” Needless to say she was very surprised when I said I had made it.

I still have a bit of cleaning up to do on the back of the dress, but all in all I consider it a step forward for my sewing skills.
And finally, cause I have to head out to work very soon, I wanted to post these:

I got these wicked cute salt and pepper shakers from the Celadon Studio’s seconds sale several weeks back. Try and say that three times fast. Malea, who works with me at webs, is the potter who made them. I think they look very Japanese influenced, with the very light toned blue green glaze. Anyway, I love them and use them constantly now (we didn’t have a salt and pepper shaker before) and I just wanted to show them off.
That’s it for now. I’m off to work.

Without You - Episode 3 - ‘Second Chances’
Air Date: September 23rd, 2008
Ryan tries to make amends with Andrea while Dooley tries to win back Brandy; Andrea is asked out by a mysterious stranger; Keira discovers a cure for loneliness
Without You: Episode 3