NYFA Graduation: Or, Three Little Birds Leave the Nest

Three and a half years ago, I walked into New York Fashion Academy with ambition and a pair of Fluevogs; Sunday afternoon, I walked out with a different pair of Fluevogs and a certification as a Master of Fashion Design & Construction.

And I did it with two of my favorite fashion people in the world: Melody (left) and Marisa (center). We met when we were working on our collections for the 2013 NYFA fashion show. Over those three and a half months, we worked countless 12-hour days, and had spontaneous dance parties, and ate a monumental amount of pizza. We stabbed ourselves with pins, and went on trips out for thread and falafel, and cried on the floor of the workroom when things got rough. It was one of the hardest experiences of my life, and it was made so much better because of the friendship, compassion, and support of these two amazing women.

Since then, our friendship has only grown. Both of them were in my wedding; all three of us have done photoshoots together; Blake and I have lived with Melody for the last two years. I love Marisa for her badass attitude, tenacity, and kindness; I love Melody for her fearlessness, integrity, and curiosity. I'm so thankful to have them in my life.

 

And on Sunday - after two fashion shows, three ballgowns, three tailored jackets, and thousands of hours of hard work - we all dressed up and Went To Tea. More specifically, we went to high tea at the Queen Mary tea room with Terry, the director of NYFA, where we received framed certificates of completion and enjoyed our official graduation ceremony together.

There were dozens of types of tea to choose from, and tiny sandwiches with no crusts, and multicolored sugar crystals to put in our tea. We dressed up in the most cupcake-y clothes we owned, and chatted with the owner about our work, and drank from rose-painted cups with our pinkies raised. It was just about the fanciest thing I've ever done, and it was the perfect way to celebrate - especially with Terry, who has been an incredible resource and mentor throughout my tenure at NYFA.

I'm so proud of the three of us. I'm proud of how different and strong we all are as people, and how we have grown and thrived throughout this experience, and how we were able to commit to and complete this challenge on our own terms. Together.

And I can't wait to see what we all do next.

Happy Wednesday, friends.
<3
Cory

Photoshoot: Melancholia Jacket

Fall is always a bittersweet time of year for me. Each year, the end of October marks the anniversary of the murder-suicide that changed the course of my life. (This year, it's eight.)



In fall, the days grow shorter, and the light of day is tempered by shadows. In some moments, it's easy to fall into darkness completely.

And yet, in marking this time, I feel a sense of comfort. Every October will be another October since the magnetism of my world shifted, just as every November ticks off the years since I refused to let that violence destroy me.



And as strange as it is, there is also comfort in recognizing others who have touched the rim of that same darkness, and chosen to turn their profound despair into beauty. My tremendously talented housemate and dear friend Melody Hirsch designed and constructed this jacket, inspired by the film Melancholia, to reach into the darkness and call it by its name.



So when she asked me to take her jacket into the woods on a hazy Thursday, and told me the story of its origin, of course I said yes.

Happy Friday.
<3
Cory

A Yarny Weekend at Oregon Flock & Fiber Festival: Part 2 - Yarn People!

Clockwise from top left: Jessica, Shawna, Kathie, me, Rebecca, and Debra

This last weekend at OFFF, Rebecca got together a great little group from Seattle and Eugene. (We carpooled down from Seattle, and met up with Jessica and Shawna down in Canby.) They were the sassiest, most awesome people to hang out with! There was lots of good-natured swearing, creative license plate acronym driving games, coffee, and - of course! - knitting.

Rebecca kindly let me stay at her house on the Eastside the night before we left, where I played with her two charming Border Collies and slept under a hand-knit alpaca afghan. Then on Friday, we drove down through Portland, hitting Northwest Wools, Twisted, and Happy Knits before eating ice cream and sandwiches for dinner (in that order) and knitting deep into the night.

Saturday we got up bright and early, grabbed some breakfast and coffee at the hotel, and headed over to the festival.

  

Knitting and more knitting and llama butts, oh my! We were at the festival all day, so we had a chance to see all the sights with plenty of time to spare. We walked around the market for a while, took breaks for coffee and knitting, went and visited the animals, and generally had a super chill time. We'd split off into groups for a while, then come back together for a bit, then wander off again.

I sometimes worry about burning through all my social energy reserves in group situations, but the thought didn't even cross my mind with these lovely folks - the whole day was stress-free and super fun. It helps to have people who prioritize food, rest, and knitting the same way I do! Hee hee.

 It was great to see everyone's finished knits and WIPs during our little knitting time-outs - it's always really inspiring to see what other people are working on and enjoying. Rebecca was knitting an Ecuador sweater with some Lotus yak blend from Abstract Fiber, while Shawna - a new friend from Eugene! - worked on a super-squishy bias wrap out of MountainTop Chalet, a chainette alpaca yarn.



And because I am attempting to be a nice spouse to my endlessly patient and encouraging Lumberjack, I started him a pair of socks to work on during this trip. It's an unknown self-striping sock yarn from my Oberlin LYS (Opal, maybe?), knit on the Signatures that my friend Sparkle got me as a graduation present. I swear that I am doing this to keep his feet warm because I like him, not just to make him stop asking "when are you going to knit my xyz" every time I set foot into a yarn store.

CoughcoughmrphI'mtheworst.

So much love on this trip, and SO MUCH LAUGHING. Kathie (on the right, in red) is definitely mid-sass in this photo.

 

While we were eating lunch, I spotted a gorgeous two-color shawl a few tables away from us.  I went over to say hello and compliment the knitter on her handiwork - turns out, it was the designer herself, Michele Lee Bernstein, aka PDXKnitterati! (Michele is also the designer of Rosaria, the Rose City Yarn Crawl mystery shawl pattern from 2014, and my friend Shawna was wearing her grey & red version all weekend - cool!)

The pattern is called the Aloha Shawlette and Shawl, and it's knit in Pai Mei Sock by Stitchjones. Such a pretty use of a fun, variegated skein.

Michele was super approachable and gracious, and I'm excited to follow her blog and designs more closely!

Michele also introduced me to the lovely Sivia Harding, who was wearing a stunning version of her Jo's Pride Hooded Shawl knit in Abstract Fibers Temptation in the colorway Red. I favorited this pattern back when it was exclusively available through the Victorian Writers Knitting Club, and seeing Sivia's version made me fall in love with it all over again! She's got a knockout sense of style, and was so sweet and friendly to talk to.

It was so cool of these designers to take time out of their lunch breaks to chat with me - just another example of how knitters are the best people ever.

-------------------------------------------------------

Overall, I had an awesome weekend with some really wonderful company- from my friends from my Issaquah Tinkers knitting group, to my new friends from Eugene and all the great yarn people at the festival, everyone came together to make an incredibly welcoming and inspiring yarny experience for all.

Still to come next week - vendor highlights from the festival!

Happy Friday!
<3
Cory

A Yarny Weekend at Oregon Flock & Fiber Festival: Part 1 - Animals!

A Yarny Weekend at Oregon Flock & Fiber Festival: Part 1 - Animals!

Oh hi!

So this last weekend, my awesome friend Rebecca organized a trip for a small group of us to take a trip down to the Oregon Flock & Fiber Festival. I had an amazing time hanging out with my friends - established and new alike! - and meeting some really cool artisans, fiber enthusiasts, and designers. Everyone I met was super gracious, letting me take photos and nerd out about yarn with them. Every time I go to a small, fiber-focused event like this, I am reminded of what a vibrant community this is, and how lucky I feel to be a part of it.

  

First up, I wanted to talk about the animals. It's always nice to be reminded of the origins of my yarn, and to remember that stewardship and sustainability are an integral part of a community like this. From shepherds and mills, to independent dyers and designers, we are all connected by these animals, and sheep & wool festivals are a great way to experience that connection.

So, after wandering around the market for a bit on Saturday, we went to the barns and met some wooly friends. I'd mostly seen alpacas and sheep at sheep & wool festivals before, so I really enjoyed seeing so many llamas. I was really taken by their spunky personalities, and surprised by how beautiful and agile they are. Unshorn llamas are where it's at in the majesty department! We stayed and watched some llamas walk an obstacle course with their trainers, which really demonstrated how different each animal's personality and strengths were.

They were super photogenic, too: they would stand there and mug for the camera for minutes at a time. I love photographing animals, but most are so active that it can be tricky to get shots in focus. Not so with llamas: they'd grab some hay and then chew and stare into my camera lens deeply and soulfully until I had plenty of shots. I'm sure they'd be masters of the selfie.

Stay tuned - I'll be talking about yarn people and vendor highlights in the coming week!

II. In Which Our Hero Goes to Applebee's

The other day, I went to dinner with a bunch of my friends. We went to Applebee's, which is about a 20 minute drive from town, because the Olive Garden had a wait time of an hour and a half and we were on a time-crunch. Still, it was a Saturday night, so we ended up waiting for our table for almost an hour. My friend Ondrea and I both brought our knitting, and we sat on a metal bench outside the restaurant with our friend Will sandwiched between us, both muttering and knitting. (Ondrea is working on a teal baby sweater; I'm working on the Interlocking Balloons scarf for my lab partner, who is from California and has no scarves to speak of.) While we were sitting there, a woman walked out with her family, stepped off the curb, saw us both knitting, stopped and looked dumbfounded. She said something like, "Wow. It's not every day that you see two women knitting outside an Applebee's." Then she laughed awkwardly, got into her car, and drove away.

It's funny that knitting has become so much a part of my life that I get confused when people tell me that they have never seen anyone knit before. I'm perfectly willing to answer questions, and I have no problems with knitting in public, but it is interesting that the first two things that come out of a person's mouth in response to my cabled scarf are, "WOW. What are you doing?" and, upon learning what I am doing, "WOW. Will you knit me a scarf?"

And I do occasionally knit people scarves - the projects that rekindled my addiction when I was sixteen were four basketweave scarves that I knitted for my ex, two old friends, and one of my (still) closest friends. And then there's the interlocking balloons scarf, which I am knitting for my Californian lab partner, a little because he asked for a scarf, but mostly because I've been eyeing the DK-weight charcoal alpaca yarn at Smith's for over a month.

(Seriously, I'm going to marry this yarn someday and we will make lots of cabled scarf babies and a couple of fingerless mittens and a sweater, and we'll sit around drinking hot chocolate that has peppermint teabags thrown in for some broke-ass-college-student flavor.)

Sometimes I wonder if I actually do like to knit, or if I just like to think about knitting - but then I rediscover a beautiful yarn in my stash and realize that - oh, my gosh, I can turn it into that little surplice camisole from Knitting Lingerie Style! - and then, from cast-on to endless, mindless rows of stockinette, I am addicted, planning every exam and homework session and dinner around When I Will Get To Knit Next. Sometimes it goes in cycles, but after a long day of studying and class and frustration, a couple of rows is exactly what I want and need before I go to bed.

Speaking of which, I have been putting off calculus homework for over an hour.

It's a shame how classes cut into my knitting time.