Prom Hair?

Yes? No? What do we think?

Crazy New Textiles: Part II

A wedding dress made of milk fibers.

Another new-fangled idea that came up in my textiles class (which, by the way, was done as of about 12:37 today) was milk fiber. Yes, fibers made out of milk that are then turned into clothes. Crazy, right? If you know me AT ALL you know how i cannot go a day without an ice cold glass of milk straight out of my fridge and also how particular I can be about the milk that I drink. I know; it's weird. My obsession may have something to do with a complex I developed as a child with my mom always talking to me about how crying and milk are synonymous with being a failure which may also relate to the fact that I rarely ever cry, but I digress. Milk Yarn is made from milk protein fibers. To make it, milk is first dewatered, i.e. all the water content is taken out from it and then it is skimmed. New bio-engineering technique is then applied to make a protein spinning fluid. This fluid is suitable for wet spinning process through which the final high-grade textile fiber is made. While spinning, a solvent is used by most of the manufacturers and micro-zinc ion is embedded in the fiber which gives it the characteristics of being bacteriostatic and durable. It combines the advantages of both, natural as well as synthetic fibers. It can be spun alone or with cashmere, silk, spun silk, cotton, wool, ramie and other fibers to make fabrics. At this point, it is still very expensive to make milk fiber which in turn makes it expensive when we buy it in products. Unfortunately, they have yet to come up with the technology that allows ice cold milk pouches to be constantly replenishing themselves in the seams (AKA straws) of the clothes.
Anywho, just thought I'd share. There are so many amazing things going on in textiles right now; it's kind of crazy and it's kind of boring but kind of interesting too, yea? I've definitely saved the best for last, so stay tuned. This will literally make your skin crawl.

*all statements I made about my mom earlier in this post are false and meant for humor only.

Thunder Down Under

Whenever I tell people where I'm going to school next year there are typically three reactions. 1) "SCAG? What's that?" 2)
"Savannah, Georgia? O wow. that's far." and 3) "Do you know how hot the south get's in the summer?" The answer to those questions are as follows: 1) "It's actually SCAD. Savannah College of Art and Design. In Georgia. No one's ever heard of it. (awkward laughing)" 2) "Yea, I'm excited though. I think I'm ready for a change. It'll be an adventure!" and 3) "Apparently. I've heard that a lot lately. Hopefully it won't be too bad." So, in reaction to those questions, I've been keeping tabs on the weather down in Savannah since deciding on going there, just to see what I'm getting myself into. The fall and winter seasons seem pretty mild and just slightly colder than what we have here, but today I looked at my little weather widget only to realize what all of those people were referring to.

This is Savannah's weather for the next week....
And This is Newport.....

I'd be lying if I said I wasn't a bit alarmed at their major differences. Hot with a coastal breeze I can deal with but thundering humidity? Not ok. The comforting silver lining on this whole thing is that although I will be at SCAD for both ends of their hot, hot summer, the majority of my time will be in the cooler seasons so it won't be so bad...or at least that's what I keep telling myself. Either way, it will be one of those adventures that I tell people about in question 2, right?

I'm still obsessed with this website.

I saw this new note and totally identified with it. Uncertainty plagues me and I'm still trying to figure out why. Change is something that thoroughly freaks me out and in some areas of my life, I love, crave and thrive in change but in other areas, it consumes my every breathe like a meal full of garlic. Weird. Thinking about this on my own and also talking it over with some close friends, I've come to the conclusion that I love change that I can control. When something is completely out of my hands, that is when the stress begins. Things like moving my furniture, going on vacation and cutting my hair are fun changes because they can be changed back. Friends moving away, getting older and people I care about making decisions I don't agree with makes me uneasy. I need to start viewing change as possibility. I love that. This is definitely not the end of this. I'm going to keep thinking about it and let you know when I come up with something new.

Moral Decisions

Happy Monday, Lovies!!!

I have two dilemmas:
Is it gross for me to wear essentially the same outfit (jeans and my SCAD sweatshirt) for the 4th day in a row?
and Has there been too much time since Senior Project day to still be using the "I'm recovering" excuse for being lazy?

I think the mature and thoughtful answer for both of those questions is a clear and calculated "NO."

Ps. I promised myself I wouldn't start counting down graduation until I hit 10, but I just can't wait anymore!!! So, I'm starting it today with 16 days left! YIPEE!

Yarn Bombing

Last week in my textiles class, we had to write a paper on textiles in the news. I wrote mine on denim factory pollution around the world (more on that later) but there were some very interesting stories that I thought I'd share in the next couple weeks. The first one I'm going to talk about is a new art form/phenomenon called Yarn bombing. Wikipedia defines yarn bombing as "a type of graffiti or street art that employs colorful displays of knitted or crocheted cloth rather than paint or chalk." It was started in Texas by a group of knitters who wanted to find a creative way to use up excess yarn. Most yarn bombers are anonymous and do their work in the middle of the night on lamp posts, statues, or any other structure that inspires them. The idea is to reclaim or personalize things that seem cold or mechanical.
I love this whole concept. It's a fun way to add onto something in a creative way without it vandalizing or damaging property. Although most of the artists now do things on a much larger scale, they recommend that if you are interested knit graffiti, trying it out on the handles of you bike or a door knob to get the hang of it. Here are some of my favorites of their work.

Recap.

Ok, so first of all, I can finally say the words I have been waiting to say since about August: SENIOR PROJECTS ARE OFFICIALLY DONE! Today the whole school presented all of the things we've been working on for what feels like forever and I could not be happier. Not only did everyone do such a great job presenting all of their hard work, but the weight is lifted and the mood around school already feels generally happier. From what I hear from people who were watching, my presentation went well and the panelist in my room were super friendly which made everything so much more comfortable. Now I can finally wear all the clothes that I have been slaving away at!

Now that that's over, I can start easing into summer even more than I already have which, in my book, is a great thing.

The other day, I came across this website that I thought was super funny and interesting.





Leah Dieterich's mother always told her to write thank you notes, so she started a blog where she writes thank-you notes to everything in her life. So funny. Let's do our own! What thank-you note would you write today? I think mine would read something a little like this:

Dear Senior Project,
Thank you for finally getting your fat butt out of my life. Although we did bond over long nights at the sewing machine and through our mutual love for clothes, I don't think I'll miss you very much. I'm now going to start hanging out with your arch nemesis, Free Time. We're going to fall in love and live happily ever after.
Sincerely, Julia