And here's the other side of that crochet street art piece in Williamsburg. But I'm pretty sure the letters have been rearranged by some sort of vandal with crafting skills. I think they once spelled out "imagine" or other hopeful sentiment. ‪#‎streetart‬ ‪#‎crochet‬ ‪#‎brooklyn‬

Or maybe "the magic"? Well, the magic is gone because someone stole the letters. And the vibrancy of the yarn has certainly faded too.

For all of you hopey-changey types out there. #believe #streetart #brooklyn #crochet

Alicia Kachmar, Crochet Campfire, $14 on Etsy

Alicia Kachmar, Crochet S'more, $12 on Etsy

Staycation anyone? If you ask me that overused word has totally lost its funny. But, if you're contemplating one, how about a simulated camping trip? Alicia Kachmar's crochet soft sculptures never disappoint. I think I can guarantee they will put a smile on your face.

[click image to enlarge]

For a little background information, please read the previous post, and come back. Ever since the time change, I have been getting projects done that have been stalled for a long while. Like restringing a pair of 50s lamps (next post). And hanging recent acquisitions. Yes, we are pleased with our new art wall. Now, just one more photograph to hang tonight. And one more 50s lamp to repair.

[L-R] Michael Pellew, Happy Holidays, 2009, ink on paper; Alicia Kachmar, Safety Cones, 2009, yarn, batting, thread, beads; James Hull, Map, 2000, pigment & gold on metal; unknown Toronto artist, Safety Pin, 1998, encaustic on canvas; Matthew Murphy, A Classic Setting, 1995, oil on board.

The best iced cookie I have ever eaten. By Alicia K.

Blurry Portrait of an Artist.
Her work to the right.

Crochet Safety Cones by Alicia Kachmar


I think I scarfed 3 whole cookies. Honestly I don't know what
came over me. I will never forget the taste of these cookies.
The icing was sooooooooooo delicious. And I normally don't like icing.

So here's the thing. I took one look at the blurry photo I took of soft sculpture artist, Alicia Kachmar, after I went to her opening back in October, got frustrated with my photography skills in that moment, and didn't want to post. But now that I look at this batch of photos again, I think they're a good representation of the event. So here goes.

In other news, I just "installed" my very own safety cones which I proudly purchased the night of her opening, and am very pleased with the arrangement. If I can snap some non-blurry pics, I'll show you. Even if they're a bit blurry, I'll show you.

Note: Some of my blurry pics on this blog are blurry on purpose. Some are just due to low lighting and the fact that I don't like the flash on my digital camera. Too harsh.

I loved these tiny photos by another artist in the show.
They were only about 2" by 2". And look at the neat case they come in,
below.

The photos. The question: who was the artist?

The artist herself!

Everyone at the show could don the orange safety vests and
do some investigating. Very festive.

The Chashama pop-up gallery space on W37th was teeny tiny, so the
show spilled out onto the street.

More gallery goers.

And more.

And more.

Just one more post, before I get back to holiday shopping... Alicia Kachmar, my favorite crochet artist, strikes again with the cutest s'more you ever did see. Don't you want to get a lot of these? I sure do. Alicia, if you are reading this, I love my Cowboy Safety Cone and my Snow-Proof Safety Cone so very much. I think I shall be purchasing again very soon!

If you know about the NYC summer food truck explosion
you will want one of these. Trust me, you will.

Well, what I was going to talk about in that last one about my getting back to Twitter was that I stumbled upon Big Gay Ice Cream Twittering his little heart out (even though it's the ice cream off-season and Big Gay is a bassoonist in a symphony in the off-season) and properly maintaining his awesome indie brand which he built so cleverly this summer. If I had any sense, I wouldn't have stopped blogging and Twittering recently, but I kinda got busy with teen blogging for a well-known denim company with whom I am currently employed. So yes, good reason, but I do love my blog, and feel terrible when I don't write down some thoughts and ideas and finds here. So here's what I found today: Alicia Kachmar, whom I wrote about this past fall, made a Big Gay Ice Cream ornament, which is so darn cute and lovely and sweet, that you want to just impulse purchase one right away! Don't you? I do. And the great part about the ornament is that it is so New York sub-culture street culture indie culture that you feel good being in-the-know about it.

"Cardón" Cactus, $24 on Lama Designs
Handmade on her way to work by Carolina Leal.

Just look at this crochet cactus! Don't you want one? I totally do. Even the dirt is crochet. The pot is actual, by the way. I found it on Decor8. One of her ads. You see, ads on blogs are effective.

Carolina believes "the secret to happiness is to do a little more than what's expected every time you do something." What a nice sentiment, and I totally agree!