Amy Brill / Totally Brill

Shapes of Things to Come

2012-02-16T09:17:00.000-08:00

I’ve been playing around with all sorts of different proportions lately. I don’t really know why, except that I’ve had a hankering to see some new shapes take form. And there’s no other way to get something done, than to just begin it.

We’ll be at the Atelier Designers Show in the DoubleTree Suites Hotel in Times Square in NYC on Sunday, Monday and Tuesday coming up. February 19,20,21. Showing off our incredible Fall One line up. Come and see us. There is still time to make an appointment if you want one on one attention.

There are really fun shapes and sizes and actually a full array of prices this time, although I have often said and I stand behind this, that quality is remembered long after the price is forgotten. We here at Amy Brill Sweaters do make fabulous stuff that we stand behind completely, and I like that about us.

I always feel a great sense of anticipation when I am about to take off for a show. In a good way, I mean. I am proud of what we do here. I am glad to show it off to you. And I love to see firsthand the reactions to the styles and the fit and the shapes that I bring out for the first time. Design often happens in a vacuum. I have an idea in my mind. I am my own fit model for the purpose of getting it translated from my mind to what I’d like to see the style become. And then it needs to become a versatile size that will fit a variety of bodies, each with their own menu of special quirks and curves. And for that, a style only truly comes to life when it gets tried on by real people with real bodies.

I watch as someone looks at herself in the mirror in a sweater. Their face changes as they see something they really like. They sometimes pull and tug the sweater into a shape that suits their own shape, and then they smile contentedly into their own eyes. The sweater becomes the perfect shape for their perfect shape. You know the look that I am talking about. You know what I mean when I say that they are pulling something into the shape that they need it to be. You also know what it is to put something on that makes you just feel good, that just fits ‘right’.

I love to see people come up with alternate ways to wear styles that I hadn’t thought about. It all happens in the playing. Playing dress up. It is really good to be able to play with your clothes. Actually, I guess it is really good to be free enough to be able to play with all aspects of your life. To live within each moment. You never know which of the tiny moments you live through will turn out to be one of the huge moments you will always remember.

Be ready to enjoy. Be willing to enjoy. And then, well, I guess, just go ahead and enjoy!
Until next time,

Love.

Amy

Blocking It All Out

2012-02-09T11:58:00.001-08:00

Remember this. In knitting, “blocking” is a good thing. It has a completely different meaning than in the real world. You block something into the shape that it should become. Or that it could become. Blocking is a powerful place to be. What Blocking actually does is ‘set’ the stitches in place. You give the knitting ‘a memory’.

When you think about that, it becomes a really tricky concept. So don’t give up too quickly on anything. You might need to put it aside for a while, but please come back to it, until you know that you are done. Until you know what you are doing. You might be able to block it into something completely different… If you don’t block yourself off from the experience. Making a memory is quite challenging in knitting, as it is in life.

I guess that’s what really makes it all fun and worthwhile. The doing. The thinking about it. The blocking it into something completely different than what you might have originally thought. Egads. If we had to stop and actually think about what goes into every single bit of every single thing that we had to go through to get through every single thing that we go through every single day, I don’t think we would be able to even remember all of the steps that it takes to do anything. But, the reverse is also true. What a miracle it is every single day that we can open our eyes and take each breath that we do! That we can greet the world every single day that we are granted! And, gosh, well, Block Me In for the total experience, because I for one am going to try to at least acknowledge that there are miracles out there every day.

In a sense, once again isn’t this another one of knitting’s unknown correlations to life? Some of us need patterns and detailed instructions and get frustrated when ‘ours’ is not turning out just like the ‘picture’. Some of us collect skills along the way and spin them until they hang together in a new direction we can follow. Some of us have no plan at all or at least don’t think we do until one day we realize that we have knit ourselves into right where we are supposed to be. We all are what we are and where we are right at this very particular moment.

Darn Good Yarn.

Love.

Amy

Darn it!

2012-02-02T12:49:00.000-08:00

Ooh. You read that phrase and there is that ‘four letter word’ that comes to mind first. Oh come on, let’s face facts. You know that’s what you thought first. But in the knitting world, darning is the way that broken and fragile connections can be mended.

Isn’t that a lovely way of saying that you can fix the hole in your favorite sock that you made by wearing that one special pair just one too many times, or that you can mend the pull in your “go-to” sweater created by your nasty cat’s one well-timed swat? It is, however, as difficult to do in knitting as it is in the ‘real world’, and therefore most likely the reason that it is called ‘darning’. It simply has to have some sort of relation to cursing. Because it’s hard to do. Because it’s hard to face what has happened that has caused this pain.

You see, knitting isn’t like sewing. In sewing, you’ve got fabric. Fabric is already made. In knitting, you are making the fabric. You’ve got a bunch of, well, strings, nervy little things, and you are trying to pull them all together in such a way that they create something beautiful and lasting; but also, in such a way that they don’t bind up against each other, that they don’t cause stress or tension, that they will be able to work well side by side, and for a long time, even if they have nothing to do with each other.

Perhaps it is best to ‘pre-darn’. To strengthen areas as you set them into place, to help them out as you work along, to foresee problems in areas that might tend to fail and find ways to build them up. Sounds awful much like life building skills to me. Again with the knitting and its unknown correlations to life.

The size of the needles, the hand of the yarn, the gauge, the tension, the pattern, the task we have set out in front of us; the hand of the knitter, the tension of the knitter, the beauty of the day, the time we have allowed ourselves for the task at hand. All of it matters. Where and how you hold your needles matter. How you feel about your work matters. How you feel about your life matters. In knitting as in life, you form each stitch one at a time. You can snug one up right sweet and close to the next or you can wind up in small tight knots and have to start over again.

Sometimes unexpectedly, you lose your bearings for even just a moment and everything you have been laboring on slips off your needles before you can stop it and drops to the floor. Sometimes you breeze through a project without even thinking about it and it is even better than you could have ever imagined.

Imagination is such a powerful force. How totally cool is it to have something turn out even better than you could have ever imagined? I guess it might just be best to consider “pre-darning” everything we undertake. Attempt to foresee problems. Consider how to “fail better” next time. Learn how to shore up your weaknesses. Expect the best always.

Be Darn Successful in all you do today, and every day, My Darlings.
Love.
Amy

Hand in Hand or How I Felt…..

2012-01-26T12:14:00.000-08:00

I warned you last week, that there would be a long draw on this yarn. The “long draw” is a yarn spinning term, in case you were wondering….

Starting with the concept of how strong a bond can become when it gets knit back together, I realized that even that the word “knit” is used, is startling and wonderful to me. Here we go again with the unknown correlations between knitting and life.

The power of touch is imperative for each of us and there is something along every step of the sliding scale of important “touch factors” waiting for us who either knit or wear knitted things. “Having a hand” in each aspect of the production of something, of anything, is a good thing. And My Goodness, did you know that even the way a yarn itself feels as you work with it, is called ‘its hand’. Coincidence? I think not. It is the Hokey Pokey of our Life – and that’s what it’s all about.

Wool in any state will ‘felt’ – become small and hard and dense – if it is agitated or meets with friction. How like Life, and how very like the way we ourselves react to agitation and friction. So now you can understand this scenario: in a sense, it IS exactly because you have forgotten all about your favorite merino sweater for that one moment and tossed it thoughtlessly into the washing machine with your sweaty Pilates work out gear, that your treasured soft loved sweater has forever left you and turned into a tiny stupid brick. You have agitated it. You have brought friction into its existence. And now forever you are left with the consequences of how it ‘felt’. We must take responsibility. Sometimes there simply are no reparations for our actions. These are the things we must live with forever after. It’s a hard lesson to learn, but think of it as tuition in The School of Life.

Now, we here at the workshop have always stood completely behind our products. We do take responsibility. It is part of our credo. Meg told me that we have “A Mission Statement” and that it is time for us here to begin to remind you all about it again. I hadn’t realized that what we are all about and have always been all about was actually called “A Mission Statement”. We have always been an American company, grown with American labor, and using American products. Made in America by Americans with American materials. So, I want to remind you that we are bringing you snuggle-wonderful wearables with no agitation. And this is not just how I feel. It is how I have always “felt”.

It’s not only the truth, it’s also a really good yarn….

Until next week,

Love.

Amy

Darn It All, or It May Be a Yarn, but it’s still a really good story….

2012-01-20T09:39:00.000-08:00

You must have realized by now that I like me some wordplay, but knitting by its very nature is healing. Think about it. A bone breaks, and it can become whole again by knitting itself back together. If the medical profession bows to this miracle, so must I most empathetically embrace it. I think I may have hit upon something strange and strong and powerful…knitting and its unknown correlations to living, and it just might take me a few weeks’ worth of blogs to explore this. I am willing at least to see where it all leads. Hopefully, you’ll come along too.

Without going all woo woo on you, I’d like to step back one teeny tiny little bit (insert Schnitz’s “Big Genie Laugh” here).

In Greek mythology, there were three sisters known as “The Fates”. They were there at the birth and the death of each person. They are the ones responsible for the outline of a life. They are the ones who “spin the yarn”. I’ll break it down a bit more for you. Clotho. Lachesis. Atropos. Their mission? The divination of the gauge and tension, in all of the ways you can imagine. I am talking Fate and Destiny here. Clotho spins the actual yarn. Lachesis determines the yardage necessary. Atropos cuts to size. Lest you worry that there is no room for “free will”, there is always choice and random action, but Atropos will always have the last word. And the sharpest cut.

Whether it is Fate, or it is Destiny that we deal with, that looms ahead of us, who is to say? I believe we make our own way, every day. We are faced with choices and we need to make them. And even if we do not make those choices – oopsie(!) that is the choice that we have made. But then again, even the Greeks have chosen. And they have chosen Women Who Spin Yarns as the symbols of Life in all of its stages; as symbols of Fate, and of Destiny. Talk about the ties that bind. Oh my, I do believe, we have come back again full circle to knitting and one of its unknown correlations to living.

And that, My Loves, is a really Good Yarn….

Love.

Amy

If you always do what you’ve always done...

2012-01-05T12:22:00.000-08:00

If you always do what you’ve always done, you’ll always get what you’ve always gotten. Well, it’s a new year.

I figure that it’s time to pick and choose. Try new things. And see what happens. And still do some things we’ve always done, because it’s comforting and good.

We are doing a new wholesale show this time to see what it’s like: Nouveau Collective on the corner of 36^th and 10^th in NYC January 8,9,10. We have some great new styles to kick start your Spring Season. I am really having fun with funky brushed nickel safety pins, and I’ve been making dress clips out of suspender parts – hardware for your softwear, as I am enjoying calling them, bringing home this concept of adjustability in a whole new way. I sure am liking it. They not only look like jewelry, and but they allow you to change shapes at your whim.

So, here we go, headlong into the New Year, trying out new things, and seeing where it all leads us. We are not doing what we’ve always done. Well, we will definitely keep on doing the best of it. Of course! Because you like it, and we love pleasing you.

Love.

Amy

The Beginning of Longer Days Or Why This is Better

2011-12-29T09:34:00.000-08:00

I never knew how strong my connection to ‘the land’ was until I moved up to The Finger Lakes and became one with its beauty. And I must admit that I thought I had reached the pinnacle at The Trees, what with my double 18’s: 18 rooms and 18 acres; an open mind, an open heart, and the desire to continually expand my capacity for Joy has led me to something even better. Now I have my own private gorge and a waterfall that I can see from inside my beautiful old ‘new’ house, creating all of the negative ions (= positive energy) of a mini Niagara Falls. The business sits graciously within the footprint. And at night from my bed, I can see the lights of the houses across the Lake, framed perfectly for me within the eyebrow window on the opposite wall, like a landscape painted in watercolor that changes throughout the seasons. Oh, that was good, but Oh, yes, this is better.

Now that we have passed the longest night of the year, we can begin to welcome more sun back into our day. A long night is good for many many things, but more Sun? Yes, this is better.

And so, I look forward to a New Year with a profound sense of something approaching excited anticipation. I’ve decided that this New Year will be the Year of Noticing Happiness. And that I will have less Drama in my life and more Drama in my clothes. I hereby invite you all along for the ride. This is definitely going to be better.

I hope the Holidays and the drawing to a close of this tumultuous year, bring all of you Peace and Joy as well.

Love.

Amy

P.S. To Q. It was so lovely to be with you, too. And I am so constantly in awe of you.

Pic-in’ and Grin-in’

2011-12-22T11:08:00.000-08:00

We did a photo session last week at Sheryl’s studio with Leslie as a model! We kinda thought that it was about time that we had catalog shots on the website with a real body wearing the Basicwear and at least some of the Webwerk sweaters, so that you could see what things look like on someone. Other than the mannequin. And me. I don’t know if you know this, but I’m not a normal size person. I am 5’1” tall and all of my height is in my torso. I wear about a size 6, but I really like oversized things and definitely, definitely pants with elastic waistbands because I might want to eat a lot of cake on a whim and I will not be restrained by buttons or zippers. Leslie is about 5’9” tall and wears a 10-12.

To prove a point to myself, we took some shots of Leslie and me together, wearing identical outfits. The photo here shows us each wearing a size 1 Tank Dress and size 1 Legs in Basicwear. I think it really does show the multiple sizing capabilities of the pieces.

I was so struck by seeing Leslie in the clothing. She just looked so great. Actually, this very same feeling is something that happens to me at every one of the shows that I go to. Actual people put on actual garments and they actually look fantastic! I dunno, I realize that I’m not saying this exactly right, but for me it has more to do with the fact that each person looks good, rather than that I had anything to do with it.

As time goes on, we will be having more and more folks modeling for our catalog galleries, so that you will be able to get a sense of the drape and flow of the garments. It is my hope to make it easier and easier for you to “find yourself” in our styles because there will always be real people wearing them. Because we make the perfect shape for your perfect shape.

Love.
Amy

Joy To You and Me

2011-12-15T10:45:00.000-08:00

I watched “A Christmas Carol” the other night, the one from 1951, with Alastair Sim, and as far as I am concerned, the “good” version of the film. It still moves right along with a wonderful sense of pacing, at least the scenes that center around Alastair do. What an actor. What a beauty. But then again, I am quite partial to him and always have been. He looks like my Grandpa Izzy, my Mother’s father.

So perhaps I’ve lost my objectivity, but I don’t care, I’m not writing a book report, I’m enjoying myself. Isadore Jaffe was a very tall man also, with those same heavy lidded eyes and full lips, and I hold my breath in anticipation for that moment in the movie when Scrooge and the maid are sitting on the stairs on Christmas morning after the miracle has taken place and Scrooge has just about convinced her that he is not crazy, but then he takes his fingers and fuzzes out the wisps of hair he has on the sides of his head, and gives her that goofy toothy grin that doesn’t quite go all the way up to his eyes; his eyes that are sad, but happy; remorseful, but direct; his eyes that for once are completely open and honest- and there is my grandfather! And for the rest of the movie, all of you may thrill at the transformation of a humbug into a human; but I shall be forevermore grateful to have the opportunity to linger a while longer with my beloved Grandpa.

“Whose is he? Is he yours; is he mine? I’m getting dizzy watching Izzy all the time…”

Keep taking the time to notice the moments that bring you joy; and then add them into your life in rather large amounts.

And I say that with…

Love.

Amy

Politically Incorrect Friday

2011-12-01T09:57:00.000-08:00

I went out on Black Friday. Well, actually on the Night Before, or, as we Members of the Tribe like to say, Erev Black Friday, because now in the overall plan and scheme of things, everything must start before it starts so that everyone can get a jump on everyone else. Or something like that. Or not.

I’ve just never done anything like that. And Mary was going and who better to go out with than Mary, who is always so up and gung ho for everything that she does? Nobody!

I figured that since I figure into this economy in some sort of way, I might as well see what I can see firsthand as the insanity takes over. Lemme tell you, it is pretty wild. First of all, what a concept to be out and driving around to stores in the middle of the night and then turn into a parking lot and find it packed to the gills with cars and people! We made our first stop at a store that had decided not to close at all for Thanksgiving, but had ‘Big Specials’ starting at 10PM. Well, the joint was jumpin’. There were employees and police standing around to make sure that no one grabbed anything before the stroke of ten. And hundreds of people of all ages, some with shopping carts and some without, crouched in front of piles of merchandise, their hands twitching, their fingers lightly touching the box they coveted and then quickly moving away before some authority figure scolded them. It was all about staking a claim; getting the goods; buying the sale price; consuming mass quantities. Or was it?

There was something else going on there, and it was quite wonderful in a lot of ways. Of course, one could argue that it is consumerism of the worst possible degree. But I didn’t see anyone shopping alone and everyone was jammed together and co-operating with each other. There was a certain kind of glee in the madness of finding bargains in gifts for other people. Or perhaps in the topsy-turvy-ness of being out in the middle of the night and having everything open and all lit up and noisy when normally everyone is asleep and everything is all dark and quiet. Perhaps we feel a bit like Santa in a way, on his rounds, in the middle of the night, when we too, can shop like that, like maniacs, on one night, striving to get it all accomplished, before the breaking of the dawn.

Not that I am a proponent of such a thing, I much prefer you all shop local. It made me feel like I wanted to go home and start making all of my own gifts to give people, or at least to make sure that I leave out enough cookies and milk for Santa this year, and enough carrots for the reindeer. Or, enough Hanukkah gelt to put everyone on my own list into a sugar coma until after New Year’s. But, it certainly gave me a whole new perspective on something that I thought was very silly and meaningless. It now seems to me that this is a Holiday Tradition full of meaning and quite rich in ways that have not even occurred to the people who participate in it.

Love.

Amy

Yeah, Yeah, Yeah…

2011-11-23T12:33:00.000-08:00

It always surprises me, shocks me and awes me when I see one of my sweaters out there living a life all on its own. It is, after all, the reason for a sweater’s creation, but once it has been knit and finished; once it has been wrapped up neatly for shipping; and once I have lovingly kissed it goodbye and sent it off on its way to its new home, I pretty much have to hope that I’ve brought it up right and it will behave well. But, I never really expect that I will run into many of my sweaters ever again. So, when I do, it is a real thrill for me.

This last time was especially sweet and serendipitous. Flying home from a tough visit with my parents down in Florida, I was sitting next to a nice lady on the plane and we were chatting about this and that, and soon we were talking about work.

I have to admit to you that I have a sneaking suspicion that not too many strangers actually believe me when I tell them that I am a designer. “Yeah, yeah, yeah”….I can hear them thinking as their eyes glaze over and they consider moving further away from me, except for the fact that I am such a good story teller, that they are enthralled by what I am saying…..or else, they are trapped in the window seat next to me on a plane miles high in the air.

So anyway, we were talking about sweaters. And the plane landed. Folks were beginning to walk down the aisle and file past us when my new friend said, “And where might I be able to see one of your sweaters?” Just then, as if on cue, a woman walked by us – on the plane – wearing an Amy Brill Sweater (!!!!!) and I said, “Right there!” and I pointed towards her.

“Yeah, yeah, yeah”…..I know that thought passed through her mind. The timing couldn’t have been more perfect. And how could I prove such a thing? There was indeed a woman wearing a sweater. I have no words to describe the look on my new companion’s face. And luckily, it was my turn to grab my wheelie bag from the overhead and trundle down the aisle myself. Buhbye now.

The story could end here, but you know me, and it doesn’t. I speed walked into the airport in search of the woman in the sweater. FYI – it was an older vintage hand twisted cotton tweed of ours on a Ribby Cardy, and it looked good, babies(!) I found her and went over to her. I told her that she was wearing an Amy Brill Sweater, and that I am (blush, blush) Amy Brill.

“Yeah, yeah, yeah”….

Oh well. It’s still a good story.

Happy Thanksgiving.

Love.

Amy

Wake Up, Wake Up, You Sleepy Head

2011-11-10T12:10:00.001-08:00

I have to admit that it is easier to get up in the morning when there is the glimmer of possibility that the dawn is breaking. The dogs and I head out on our daily sojourn around the neighboring field; they, to snurf and take care of their outdoor ‘duties’; and I, to begin my head clearing and walking ruminations on whatever I need to work out up there. My best ideas probably come percolating through after a good night’s sleep and a good morning’s walk. Or else, I get myself all het up over nothing out there in the field and at least I’ve had a few acres’ worth of stomping along to work through it. So, it’s all good.

Zevi Blum said that “Passion is the only currency we possess.” And I agree with this. We are willing to pay for, with our money, our time, our emotions, our lives, whatever it is that we love, are drawn to, are passionate about.

How do we know what this is? How can we recognize it? For me, I guess, passion has always come as something that I HAVE to do. Not in the sense of duty, mind you, nor in the sense of responsibility; but in something that is so deeply a part of me that there is nothing that could keep me from following this path. Most of my passions are small, things that you might not even notice except that now I blat on about them incessantly, but they are my overwhelming delights. For me, Passion is something that makes me go “Ahhhhhhh…..”

And it all starts with getting up in the morning and greeting each day. So, get up, get up, you sleepy head. Open up, open up, and be prepared to find out the surprising things that are your passions.

Love.

Amy

Trying It On For Sighs

2011-11-03T12:08:00.000-07:00

I didn’t always, but lately, I feel pretty good about myself. And I highly recommend it as a place to get to, if you can manage it. Took me long enough, I must say. And I am paraphrasing a very wise person who said something like in order to have gotten where I am now, I have stood upon the shoulders of geniuses. And that I continue to do. And you all know who you are…

That being said, no one will ever be completely satisfied with themselves. No way, no how. And that will always translate into the way that they treat others. Weird statement, that. But, then again, that is not my job. My job, at the moment, is making groovy things to wear.

So, you might ask, how is that done? My office manager, and good right arm Meg, wrote a blog a week or so ago about the design process. It was really good. Go back and read it if you haven’t. I love color, even though I usually only wear black. I don’t know why that is. Perhaps because it allows me to really soak up the color around me. Who knows? All I do know is that I like to start working on a season by working on the colors that I want to use. I tend to think of color as something that is visceral, edible, juicy, important.

I think that color is almost more important than shape. You surround yourself with layers of color that make you feel excellent and you look excellent. And this always changes. Throughout your life, you will find that you are drawn to certain colors. Do not be afraid of them. If they call to you, enjoy them.

My Mother’s Mother Jenny left me her ‘Amy-full-length-size’ mirror. I use it even today to test out how things look. Yes, my Loves, I do try everything on “for sighs”. If it makes me sigh, in a good way, I figure that it’s a good thing to put out there for you to see. I realize that there is no accounting for taste, but I also have found that it is really hard for me to stand behind styles that I simply do not like. There is a reason for every curve, a reason for every line. At least there is that. I still wear everything around for a day or so and see how it makes me feel and what needs to be changed or whether it is ‘just right’.

And perhaps, overall, that might be a better way to think about dressing. Perhaps all of us should simply try things on “for sighs” instead of “for size”. Sometimes we get so caught up in what size something is, that for good or for bad, we allow that size thing and only that, determine how we feel about ourselves.

I say enough is enough. No more size. Only sighs.

And I say that with…

Love.

Amy

Even Less than Six Degrees of Separation

2011-10-27T13:01:00.000-07:00

I have the makings of a most interesting tale. Back in the day, in a town in Upstate New York called Trumansburg, there was a little restaurant called Kosmos. It was communally run and way ahead of its time, using locally grown and seasonal foods, served in a kind of vegetarian way. It pre-dates the much more famous local Moosewood Restaurant by years. The part that I liked best was that you could keep on going back for more food, but you had to “clean your plate”. By that I mean, there was to be no wasting of food. Eat all you wanted, but don’t take more than you needed.

The mostly vegetarian food was served on long tables, family style, with a huge crock of good water (and sometimes lemon slices floating in it!) with a spigot on the bottom in the middle of it all, and wooden bowls of salads, and casseroles from the oven and warm heavy breads, and soups, or macrobiotic experiments- basically whatever we back in the kitchen decided to tinker around with that day.

Yes. Whatever WE back in the kitchen decided to tinker around with that day. Because I, my Dear Readers, was a part of this. Not only that, but when I left, I took with me a little metal file box of recipes.

I have kept that little box safe all these years and I was looking through them over the weekend with my friend Julie Jordan, who lives here in Trumansburg still. You may know her as the force behind Wegman’s “Wings of Life” Salad section, but she is so much more than that. Her first Cookbook was indeed “Wings of Life”, published by the Crossing Press and was so far ahead of its time in vegetarian food combinations and recipes. She has also written “Cabbagetown Café Cookbook”, and “A Taste of Julie Jordan”. They are all incredible reads and full of delicious recipes.

But, in the Kosmos box, there is a sheet of handwritten recipes that is really remarkable. And I need some help and some confirmation here, because I can’t seem to remember this woman being at Kosmos, nor being in Trumansburg, but I have it writing, and so I know that she was.

It seems that Meg Swansen, America’s knitter extraordinaire, lived right here in Trumansburg, and cooked right there at Kosmos, with her recipes for Pakora Batter, and Samosas, for Puris, Halvah, Sweet Rice, Ladu, and Burfy.

How funny! How sweet. I have a handwritten page in pencil and at the top are both Elizabeth Zimmerman’s name, and Trumansburg’s own Meg Swansen. So, she was there. And of course, me, too. I was there, too. So, all in all, Kosmos was a very good name for it, when you stop and think.

I guess it all goes to show you, you need to eat, and you need a sweater. And we are all connected somehow, and closer than we might think. We are all part of the Kosmos…

Love.

Amy

Into and Out of The Habit

2011-10-20T12:30:00.000-07:00

So, did you miss me?

I let a Thursday steam-roll by before I realized it. And then last Thursday, I was in Los Angeles at the textile market, with just my tiny phone keyboard and my attention span of a gnat. And now, here it is again, Thursday(!) As with anything, really, anything at all, a habit becomes easier and easier the more you do it. For good or for bad. So skipping writing becomes easier too, and since I just will not let that happen, here I go, diving back into it.

I was thinking the other day about age. When you are a baby, your parents proudly tell everyone what your age is in months, so that it seems like a large amount. As a child, you continue to proudly pronounce yourself as older, as more: “I am almost four!” “I will be seven!” “I am nine and three quarters!” Even as a teenager, you continue to add a bit to your age, moving yourself up towards that “legal” time, so that you can be 21.

But at some point around that golden time, a forever twenty-one mentality begins to set in and a gradual slowing down of the age process begins. As long as you are old enough to ride the roller coaster, vote, drink, and um, you know what, who wants to admit to being any older?

Well, we all look pretty fabulous for another good number of years after turning 21, let me tell you. There is simply no reason at all to worry about your age, nor is there any reason to lie about it.

But here is a strange thing that some women have done after they reach certain “landmark” birthdays: they have told people that they are younger than they are. How funny. I suppose there is some ego involved. No one wants to admit the passage of time to that much of a degree, especially when one is moving right on along through “the second half” of it all. Still, I do not buy into this trend and am glad to see it coming to an end. After all, at some point, if you say you are younger, you are going to look worse for your age, rather than better. In fact, I think that we should all begin to add years to our age. And we should do it proudly. Or at say with gusto and fervor, “I will be 104!” Oof. We should all live so long. But better than that, we should all be well and be happy.

Love.

Amy

Creative Process

2011-10-13T11:35:00.000-07:00

Hi, it’s Meg. Amy invited me to guest blog today and I am very excited to do so. Before I worked here with Amy, I did not really know how a sweater came to fruition. I just assumed it was a systematic thing involving patterns and machines. But with Amy it is more than that. It is a very beautiful and unique creative process.

It starts with color. A bright flower, an amber sunset, or a found object can ignite the idea of a color. Sometimes the evolution of a color is a quick blending of some previous colors. But often times it is the subtle blending of many puffs of fiber to create that one perfect shade. It may also take the yarn mill more than one spinning to get the color just right.

As the colors are manifesting, ideas for shapes and forms start to take place on paper. Little sketches and doodles appear on random papers and they begin to materialize into full drawings and then develop further through conversations with the knitters. Prototypes begin appearing and they get tucked, tweaked and pulled into shape until they are the embodiment of Amy’s idea.

We then get to see sweaters pour in in all sizes and colors as the sample sets are formed and then the orders start coming in. The shelves of store inventory create a rainbow - shifting constantly with the changing seasons of the sweaters. It is a wonderful and colorful experience and it gives me a much greater appreciation for the creative process.

The next time you put on one of your Amy Brill Sweaters, look at it. I mean really look at it. Look at the yarn, its interesting hue and delicate knit. Look at how thoughtfully the sweater shapes itself around your body. It truly is a work of art, and I feel very special to play my small role in the process.

Thanks!

Meg

Happy New Year or Russian Noshes to All

2011-09-29T13:06:00.000-07:00

Even if you are not one of the celebrants, it is a good thing to think about a new year, and starting over, or having a fresh start, or a “do over”. Let’s face it; a New Year’s Eve is a New Year’s Eve is a New Year’s Eve and thank you, Gertrude Stein.

I used to find myself getting so melancholy at this time of year, often not even realizing why and then all of a sudden noticing once again that the High Holidays had arrived and with them, such a heavy time of introspection and reflection. Not so with the end of the calendar year – that just seems to be a blur that whizzes by, a lightning race from Thanksgiving through Christmas that careens on right through New Year’s Eve until it all ends with the auction at Bostwick’s on New Year’s Day. Even the resolutions one makes are frivolous and light-hearted. The health clubs are only packed for the first week or so and you know it.

But from Rosh Hashanah until Yom Kippur, or Russian Noshes until Yum Kippers, as I like to say, there are larger issues to grapple with. First of all, “The Book” is open and I for one need all of “the points” that I can muster. Oh yes, I joke about it, but I have been trying and trying for years, even decades now, to be a better person. This alone is a tough thing.

And then, Why don’t get to do what we want to do? What we think we are capable of? In the long run, of course, we are always doing exactly what we want to do. We make the decision. We are the ones who allow ourselves to get into or get out of any situation. Eleanor Roosevelt said, “No one can make you feel inferior without your consent.” A hard truth to face. So,

Truth or Dare, My Loves, on this first day of the year, I dare you:

Face yourself. Look yourself in the eye and give yourself permission to be kind, first and foremost, to YOU. And then, to everyone else around you.

Love.

Amy

Real Bodies. Haphazard Fashion.

2011-09-22T12:42:00.000-07:00

I have just returned from my most successful Fashion Week ever. I have no idea what made it so, but Boy oh Boy, was it ever fun! Mary came down to The City with me this time. You can see her smiling face on the website, and she is also my finisher. Keri was my model as usual, but she also brought both her mom and her step-mom, so I dressed everyone up. We had Real Women with Real Bodies in Real Sizes from size zero all the way up to size 24, wearing outfits pulled right off the hangers, lookin’ good.

Besides being a room full of estrogen of varying percentages, or “Is it hot in here, or is it me?”, my showroom looked like a teenager’s bedroom most of the time – a happy jumble of comfortable stuff strewn about in a haphazard fashion. OOOhhh, sounds like a good name for an offshoot line, doesn’t it? Haphazard Fashion. I am lovin’ it. We set up outfits and sold them.

It has been called to my attention more often than once that my showroom doesn’t look like other showrooms. It is more comfortable. More at ease. There is a looseness about it all. I’m glad that there is. Folks come in, plop themselves down, and things begin to happen. I feel good about it all. Mary has been finishing sweaters for me for years now and she said that she didn’t realize how good everything looked on “real people” before this. Cathy asked where her butt disappeared when she put on the Arc Tunic…

I sit back and smile. Real Bodies. Haphazard Fashion. What could be better than this except cake?

Love.

Amy

Renewable Energy or I Don’t Have Time to Breathe

2011-09-08T10:49:00.000-07:00

There are some things that we simply cannot afford to be without. I should probably end this week’s blog right here and let you figure those out for yourself, because I know that all of you have the most excellent minds and imaginations, but of course, I simply cannot leave well enough alone and so I shall continue.

We run ourselves ragged in so many ways. We have to, we should, we must… Just let me get this one last thing done and then I promise to stop…. Or whatever. I don’t give anyone permission to slack off, drop out, pass the buck, or heap it all upon someone else’s shoulders. But no one’s own shoulders can handle it all either – and especially not all at once.

So, however it is that you renew your own energy, do it! Perhaps you DO need another pair of shoes, even if you just like the hunt, the capture, and the admiration of your conquest. Maybe Romance novels clutter up your ‘secret bookshelves’. Fine with me. Walk in the woods searching for mushrooms? Sleep away those last brilliant days inside instead of ‘going outside and doing something with people’? Paint your nails a different color every morning? Stack rocks in the middle of streams? If you feel refreshed, renewed, re-fueled, and energized, you have found something, My Friend, and I am proud of you.

Love.

Amy

Testing the Water

2011-09-01T11:20:00.000-07:00

I realize that I scream exactly the same way when I am being chased through the woods at midnight by maniacal zombies as I do when I am wading in the Lake on a bright afternoon and a piece of seaweed touches my foot. Some of our fears are big fears and when we head out into unknown territory we don’t know what we might encounter. We might be attacked by zombies. But then again, it could just be a little piece of seaweed. Don’t let fear be the thing that stops you. I figure that sometimes you have just got to take your shot and go for it.

Hence, the Plica series was born. I like to think of parts of the line ‘in series’- like, a pullover, a vest, and a cardigan – each with the particular aspect of the style that makes it ‘it’. A Plica (pronounced pleekah) is sort of like a rouch (roosh) or a pucker kinda thing. It grabs some fabric and makes a statement. It also distorts the shape of the garment. And it’s fun to say in that odd double entendre way, as in: “Hey, I got yer Plica right here!” Or even: “You’re looking mighty Plica today, Ma’am.” Basically a good all round all purpose word. But perhaps that’s just me.

I liked the detailing of the grouping of the Plicas in the front so much that I also put a bunch on the back as well. And what I really like is how this distorts the whole shape of the sweater into something fresh and off-beat, but still totally wearable and comfortable. And of course, with a pocket!

And then I had a fantastic breakthrough! I love it when those happen. Explanation of terms. All of those knitted things = sweaters. Big whoop and not specific enough at some point. So, usually American folks call something that you pull over your head and has sleeves but no buttons – a pullover. Okay. I know that you’ve got me so far. A cardigan has buttons. Great. Now, what is a vest? I guess we can agree that it doesn’t have sleeves, but sometimes it has buttons and sometimes it doesn’t. Sometimes it opens in the front (or back), and sometimes it pulls over your head. So vest is now not specific enough a word and I came up with a new term for a sleeveless sweater that has no buttons and pulls over your head. Ready?

I’m calling it a Popover! Sounds delicious to me. And wait until you see them in real life… In the Plica series, there is a pullover, a popover, a vest, and a cardigan…and now you know exactly what I mean when I write those.

Happy Labour Day Weekend, Sweeties.

Love.

Amy

Enjoyable

2011-08-25T13:12:00.000-07:00

We are a funny funny species. I wrote that word twice, and I would have written it more than that, because there are so many definitions to the word. We are so complex in our emotions and sensibilities.

Logam Pearsall Smith once wrote, “There are two things to aim at in life; first to get what you want, and after that to enjoy it. Only the wisest of mankind has achieved the second.”

I think that I even basically agree with that, but then again, I don’t. As I wade through this life, I find that what I truly want, keeps on changing, although, I enjoy whatever I get – I enjoy the getting, and more than that, I enjoy the re-telling of the story of the getting. Believe you me; I certainly get my mileage out of every little thing. And the more fun it is for me, the more fun it is for everyone around me.

But more and more, other people weigh on my mind. How can I enjoy what I have or what I’ve gotten unless others can enjoy themselves as well? And how long should I enjoy myself before I continue along on my journey and learn about new things to enjoy? I find that I have learned to expand my vistas by listening to other people. Everyone has something really important to tell, even if it is a very small thing. Everyone’s story adds color to my life.

I don’t often think that far in advance. I wake up! – I am overjoyed! In this short year, Meg has begun to teach me to plan for the future. What a great concept!

I am grateful for every person who has had a hand in my life. You all have made such a wonderful and happy difference in me. I must admit that I have been enjoying myself thoroughly.

And every once in a while someone reminds me of something nice that I did for them a long time ago. Right here and now I pledge to do that a whole lot more often.

Love.

Amy

Closings as Openings

2011-08-18T09:29:00.000-07:00

I am thankful for each door. Close one behind you and move on. Sometimes you have to let go before you have a firm grip on the next, but that free fall can be mighty exhilarating. I think there is a Buddhist saying about leaping and the net will appear. That sort of talk makes me awful nervous. I’d much rather think of it as leap and you sprout your own wings. Self reliance as well as cultivating a magnificent support team trumps hoping a net will appear. Drop it all into reality, Babyloves.

The first orders are beginning to pour in from our Sales Reps across the country, who are doing shows with our newest styles. This is such new territory for me – not being the first one to show the styles; not being the first one to see the reactions; not being the one to see if anything needs tweaking or adjustments. But there again, something for me to let go of, something for me to push my own boundaries on. Because if something is good, it should stand on its own, without me hovering around, telling everyone the story about how it came into being.

I even made up a style in honor of this: the Comfort Zone. Because don’t you know that life truly begins right at the edge of your Comfort Zone…

Love.

Amy

Moo-ving On

2011-08-11T09:26:00.000-07:00

This is the actual sign that stands opposite my driveway. “What a hoot(!)” doesn’t quite cover it, but that’s a moot point. Okay. Stop me now. But I want you all to know that I really can give directions to my new home by saying, “Turn left into my driveway at the sign of the cow and the man driving a tractor.” And not many other folks can say that.

Moving on is a good thing. And so is moving along. I am really in love with my new samples. They are each of them and all of them terrific additions to the line, adding in dimension and substance that was not there before.

Little by little, there are adjustments that make pieces work for more bodies. This concept has always been my philosophy. It has never been about what size you are. It has always been about feeling comfortable, so that you have one less thing to worry about.

I had an interesting discussion the other day about form and content, and the importance of filling the form with content. How true of fashion; how much more true of life. In the inventing and re-inventing of ourselves, sometimes we become known “as” something or “for” something…and we should not allow that to stand in the way of our own growth, of our own content, of our own moving on. How true of fashion; how much more true of life.

So perhaps if I attempt new things this year, it is because I am in a whole new place, literally and figuratively. And I say that with….

Love.

Amy

Nay Say

2011-08-04T09:51:00.001-07:00

Those who say it cannot be done should get out of the way of those who are doing it….

Yesterday marked the One Year Anniversary of Meg being with our little company, and I cannot even begin to tell you the difference she has made around here. But then again, what a year this has been! We are now working out of our new location, and if any of you have moved recently, you know what that means. It will definitely be a while before everything settles in and is running normally, but we are working towards it.

Moving is not something to be taken lightly, and Meg had just moved to the area a year ago and definitely had not planned on being part of another big upheaval so soon after her own, but she dug right in with the same grace and equanimity as she does everything. Meg is a force for good in my life. This simply must be stated for the record.

It takes as much energy to talk yourself out of something as it does to just go ahead and get it done. So you might as well just go ahead and get ‘er done. It takes just as much energy to talk and talk about what you are going to do and how you are going to do it, as it does to just go ahead and do it. In fact, I am of the opinion that the more you talk about it, the less likely you are to actually do it. So, just do it. Just do it.

I was worried that the dogs would try to escape from this new place that we moved to, and that they would try to run “home”. You know what I found out? A most interesting thing. I found out that my dogs just want to be with me. I found out that for my dogs, I am “home”. How cool is that?

I wonder how many other big worries that we have would simply evaporate as well if we deal with them as they arise, and we find out that “we are home”.

Love.

Amy

Inexorably

2011-07-28T10:53:00.000-07:00

What a whirlwind. Sorry I missed you all last week. It was a big moving day, complete with trucks and men with tattooed muscles. It was also over a hundred degrees, with a heat index approaching solar flare temperatures. It is quite one thing for men and young women to be drinking gallons of water, carrying heavy objects, and laughing all at the same time. They can then stop what they are doing and go and pee. Unfortunately, we women of “a certain age” find that we can do all of them one better. We don’t even have to stop what we are doing to go and pee...

We have moved to a place that is even older than The Trees. I think 207 Iradell was built in 1835, but more about that later as the weeks and months go on. For now, let me just tell you that it is a sweet nestled-in place that feels quite welcoming.

“The best way to predict the future is to create it.”
-Peter F. Drucker

With that thought in mind, on we go, towards something wonderful and memorable. Our newest samples are going out this week to the Sales Reps for the next round of Shows. Lots of fabulous new styles, and they are being shipped from our new home base. There are broad and far reaching vistas from here and everything is simple and easy to reach. Oh my goodness(!), sounds like a magical future, if I do predict it myself. You are hereby invited along for the ride.

Love.
Amy

Moving

2011-07-14T09:59:00.000-07:00

Since we have already posted that we are having a moving sale, I’m guessing you have already figured out that we are moving. Not so far away, but still, wow(!), what a trip.

I have found that everything expands to fill the time and space available. If you only have a little to do, it takes you forever to get it done. If you have way too much to do, you still get it done in that same amount of time. If you begin to pack, everything seems to expand into triple the size it was before you began the job. You begin to sort carefully, considering each item – is it Useful? Sentimental? Valuable? You over-think yourself. Maybe you will sell it at a Tag Sale. What will it sell for? Perhaps those bastards won’t see its true worth and will want to bargain you down! Well, I just won’t sell it for that piddling amount! I’d rather keep it than sell it for nothing! And so it goes, until you are attempting to keep everything you have not looked at for the last twenty years. Wait. Maybe I should unpack that first box I packed. I remember that I packed something that I can throw away. Oh, forget it. I’ll throw it away at my new home. And then you realize that is what you did the last time you moved. And those boxes are still all taped up in the attic, untouched, after all this time…

Never again, you swear to yourself! And you begin throwing things into the dumpster. Until later that night, when you have those awful middle of the night cravings and you find yourself stealing away to have one more look…

My friend Anita told me about an Amy Tan book where the Chinese were carrying everything with them on their backs as they fled persecution, china closets bursting with their best, everything…and as the trip got longer and the travel more difficult, things begin to be discarded by the side of the road, until anything that slows the journey is left behind, even crying babies….

What will we miss? What should we bring? What weighs upon us more – the memory or the actual item? And at what point, do we just stop, give up, and decide that we have enough ‘stuff’ and we can replace, or add new, or whatever? But then again, at my age, I already have forgotten more than I can remember, and unless I have a ‘thing’ to remind me, even the memory of what I am trying to recapture, is gone forever.

All I have been able to come up with for you for some words of wisdom for this week is this thought –

To be sure of hitting the target, shoot first, and call whatever you hit the target.

Love.

Amy

The Rhythm, The Words, and The Meaning of It All

2011-07-07T09:27:00.000-07:00

I do believe that we respond so strongly, so instinctively, to music because we spent nine months in our own little sound booth, listening, just listening to the meditative groovy drum beat of our own heart. And sometimes that base-line beat was over-dubbed with deep basso of Mommy’s heart or with the wild scat tempo of some strange exotic food she ate. We took almost a whole year to develop our taste in rhythm. And now on the outside, we add in words, and sometimes we still can feel our hearts soar like it used to.

But, did you ever notice that sometimes you will be singing along with some song that you have always really enjoyed, and all of a sudden you realize that the words are telling a story that is different than you had always thought?

Case in point. Alison Krauss sings a song “Baby, Now That I’ve Found You”. It is a song that is actually a slightly older vintage, but still, I’ve always liked it – until I really listened to the words and realized that it is about an insane stalker…

“Baby, now that I’ve found you I won’t let you go. I built my world around you. I need you so, Baby, even though, You don’t need me. Now you tell me that you want to leave me. Darling, I just can’t let you.”

YIKES!!! And you were just singing right along there, too, weren’t you? Sorry I ruined the song for you, but you just can’t go around calling people Baby and Darling and then locking them in the closet like that…

Being an Amy myself, I must admit that I am pretty partial to songs written about Amys. So, you can imagine my chagrin when, while shopping recently, I heard Pure Prairie League’s “Amie” playing in the store and I finally really listened to the words, and I realized how much I hated them!

“Amie, what you wanna do? I think I could stay with you for a while, maybe longer if I do. I keep fallin’ in and out of love with you.”

What a bastard! This is definitely not the sort of person that I want for a long term relationship. Stay for a while, maybe longer? Fallin’ in and out of love? Listen. I’ve known men like this. And all I can say is this: At least he has the decency to admit it. Still, this is not the sort of song that I want written about Amy.

With that in mind, I highly recommend Frank Loesser’s “Once in Love With Amy”:

“Once in love with Amy, always in love with Amy. Ever and ever fascinated by her, sets your heart afire to stay.

Once you’re kissed by Amy, tear up your list, it’s Amy. Ply her with bonbons, poetry and flowers, moon a million hours away.

Once in love with Amy, always in love with Amy. Ever and ever sweetly you’ll romance her, trouble is the answer will be that Amy’d rather stay in love with me.”

Now this is a fellow that I could go for. Declares himself wittily (lots of great internal rhymes and that pleases me, doncha know), and claims eternal loyalty. Yesyesyes. Corny, but isn’t it getting to be corn season about now? Knee high by 4^th of July and all that?

But to bring it all ‘round again to the subject of the day, the Meaning of It All, there is a song, with lyrics short and sweet, that probably does sum up on many levels, how I feel about many things:

“Here comes the sun. Here comes the sun, and I say it’s alright.

Little Darling, it’s been a long, cold, lonely winter. Little Darling, it feels like years since it’s been here. Here comes the sun. Here comes the sun, and I say, it’s alright.

Little Darling, I see the ice is slowly melting. Little Darling, it seems like years since it’s been clear. Here comes the sun. Here comes the sun, and I say, it’s alright."

Thank you for that and more, George Harrison. And I say this with….

Love.

Amy

Wherever You Go, There You Are…

2011-06-23T11:33:00.000-07:00

I think that two of the hardest things to do in life are: figuring out what you want, and learning how to ask for it.

If you could figure out what you want, and believe me, that is no small task, then, ideally you could strip away every extraneous random thought, mood, or gesture, and head directly towards your goal, because anything other than your goal would be an obstacle. When you are not directed totally towards your goal, those obstacles loom mighty large. But then again, you might be simply living and enjoying your life, with the knowledge that you are moving towards your goal, but along a meandering path. Everything is all part of your personal perspective. If you feel driven, drive. If you feel playful, play. Or as I like to say:

Don’t wobble! But if you wobble, WOBBLE!

I guess, just be in the center of whatever it is that you are doing at that moment, instead of being in the moment behind you or ahead of you. I do believe that you will get there at exactly the same second anyway, but it’s a lot more fun if you travel with your head and your heart and your body all in the same time zone.

You know, it’s a funny thing, but I have noticed that you always get what you ask for. Now, wait a minute, all of you Doubting Thomases out there. This is something that I need to be very clear about, and you need to be ever vigilant about. You always get what you ask for, but not necessarily what you want. Or what you think you want. You don’t get what you have been waiting for, or what you have been hoping for, necessarily, but you always get an answer. You ask and you are answered. Pay attention. And allow your perspective to change. Or rather, allow a new perspective to change you. You just might find that you have gotten exactly what you were really asking for, but didn’t realize it until right now. And once you realize it, it’s a wonderful thing. And of course, I say this with….

Love.

Amy

Clothing Layering 101

2011-06-16T11:07:00.001-07:00

Girls start early.

Love.

Amy

Shine on, My Darlings!

2011-06-09T06:59:00.000-07:00

"Our deepest fear is not that we are inadequate. Our deepest fear is that we are powerful beyond measure. It is our light, not our darkness, that most frightens us. We ask ourselves, who am I to be brilliant, gorgeous, talented, and fabulous? Actually, who are you not to be? Your playing small doesn’t serve the world. There’s nothing enlightened about shrinking so that others won’t feel insecure around you. We are all meant to shine, as children do. And as we let our own light shine, we unconsciously give permission to others to do the same. As we are liberated from our own fear, our presence automatically liberates others.” –Marianne Williamson

I found this great quote the other day, and, as scary and as shocking as it may feel when you first read it; let it simmer for a while. Let it sink in. Let it marinate for a bit. Move past your initial desperate knee-jerk defensive blocking tactics, where you try to tell me that you are stupid, ugly, fat, untalented, lazy, and even more than that, that nothing, and I mean, NOTHING, good ever happens to you. Because you and I both know, deep down, way way deep down, somewhere, we both know, that you really know that you ARE powerful beyond measure; That you are brilliant, gorgeous, talented, and fabulous. And that either - if you ever dared to let it out for even just one second, why, my goodness gracious (!), the whole world would simply fly off its axis and never be the same again; OR – why the Hell hasn’t anyone noticed this all on their own because it really is so painfully obvious.

It is that fear thing rearing up its ugly head again. If you think about it, we are drawn to the people who shine. They don’t need to draw attention to themselves in any particular way at al. They just need to turn on their light so that we feel warmed by it, or so that we can gravitate towards their glow. We become interesting when we are with interesting people. We feel good when we are around them. We feel bigger, better, somehow amplified, rather than diminished. And let’s be honest here, we want to be around the people who make us feel good about ourselves.

Have you ever noticed that there are some people that you love, but when you are around them for even the tiniest bit of time, they have the capacity to suck all of life out of a room and plunge you into a depression so deep that not even chocolate cake can repair? And then there are those people that, even if you never see them again, just knowing that they are alive and out there in the world, can bring the biggest smile to your face, because you know that everything will work out just fine.

This is the secret of letting your light shine. Shine on, My Darlings! Liberation to the Lights!

Love.

Amy

2011-06-02T07:07:00.000-07:00

Yesterday would have been Marilyn Monroe’s 85^thbirthday.

I can’t seem to picture her in any other way than the way I have her frozen in my memory, in all of her iconic beauty stature. And yet, I did go and look at that short grainy video-clip of her, with Peter What’s-His-Name (Lawford) ironically introducing her as “The Late” Marilyn Monroe, since she would be dead some three short months later of a mystery/scandal to rival that of the Dallas one itself. And when I saw her open her cape and reveal that glittery dress to sing “Happy Birthday, Mister President”, I must admit that I did sort of gasp a bit. I mean, wow, that girl was raw. There was Marilyn Monroe and she really seemed to be absolutely glistening and absolutely naked, and maybe even a little chilly – at least from where I sat. But glorious. Oh, glorious.

There was not and will not ever be again, anyone like her. We will always borrow from her, refer back to her, and remember her fondly.

That being said, I would like everyone out there to hold on to these next two bits of advice. One: An icon will never be real and we love the fantasy, but we live in the real world. And Two: There was not, and will not ever be again, anyone like you and you ARE real, and the whole world is out there waiting, waiting just for you.

Love.

Amy

Memorable

2011-05-26T11:43:00.000-07:00

"Bravery never goes out of Fashion.” -William Makepeace Thackeray

Memorial Day is fast approaching and I was looking for a quote to tie it all neatly together. We have come to think of Memorial Day as the beginning of the Summer Season; a long weekend, time off for fun, for friends, for barbecue. We’ve mostly forgotten that its original purpose was for remembering those who have fallen in the field of battle and for decorating their graves. The holiday itself was even called “Decoration Day”. I mean, Jeepers, don’t we use Veterans’ Day for something like that, after all? And don’t we do decorations on Independence Day? I mean, like, why should everything be such a downer, Man?

So, okay. Let’s just use the quote: “Bravery never goes out of fashion”. We can decorate ourselves. And with some of the fashion we wear, let me tell you, we have got to be plenty brave just to walk up to the mirror and face ourselves. At times, even the fleeting sidelong glance we catch is scary enough. Sometimes I consider myself brave when I have the courage to stick my head out from under the covers in the morning.

But this is about tying it all neatly together. And that is what I have been finding myself working feverishly on out here at workshop central. I’m really excited about it, too, but it’s going to take me a few weeks most likely to explain it to you, so I’ll just have to tease you with tids and bits of the concept, here and there. I am really actually going to “Tie It All Together”, line by line. You will soon begin to see sweaters that have colored silks laced through them, with Evolution Silk Bloomers Flower Brooches blossoming up at the shoulder, that all tie into the same colors of Evolution Silk dress or skirt or whatevers you are wearing, and everything can change out and then re-co-ordinate again to shift and tie in with your next mood or outfit or whim, as you rearrange your color palette.

I’ve had my yarn company make for us an “eyelashy” kind of American Cotton Yarn that I’ve named “American Terry”, as our own private joke (No French Terry for us, no Sir!) and that is being shipped out right now to our West Coast Rep, Neetu Malik.

We are going to tie it all together for you, so that you feel comfortable, fabulous, and well taken care of; all wrapped up and ready to go out there and face the world, with one less thing to worry about because, “Bravery never goes out of fashion”. And I do this for you because I…

Love.

Amy

Trying to Keep Up

2011-05-19T09:22:00.000-07:00

I read a great quote the other day:

"The illiterate of the 21st century will not be those who cannot read and write, but those who cannot learn, unlearn, and relearn." - Alvin Toffler, Author & Futurist.

The more I think about this, the more interesting it becomes. As everything today changes with the speed of light at the same time as each of us grow older and perhaps more inflexible in body and mind, this concept becomes more and more challenging.

I know that most folks think, “I know what I like”, but I kinda disagree with that. Instead I have a feeling that people most often “like what they know”. Case in point: the overture in a musical comedy; little snippets of music played before the show begins, as the anticipation of the evening’s enjoyment rises. And, when the song arrives in its full orchestration at the appropriate moment in the show, you sit back awash in pleasure and realize that you “like” this song; you “love”(!) this song, and most likely that is because it sounds so familiar to you, almost already on the tip of your tongue, loosed from somewhere in your fond memory. Even though actually, you may have heard it almost subconsciously about a half an hour before, in the overture.

So how can we free ourselves to release the past and move ahead quickly? Forget what we have ingrained, what we have hard learned? How can we just let it go and learn something else completely different, strange, and new? And feel instantly at ease and okay with it?

I do have the answer for you. (Oh, come on now, you knew that I would, didn’t you?)

Find the clothes that make you feel so comfortable that you know that you look good and feel good and at least that is totally taken care of, so that you can get down to the business of taking care of everything else. I know that’s how I feel when I’m wearing Amy Brill Designs – I layer myself up until I’m feeling mighty comfortable, and once I’m there, I realize that I am also feeling mighty – and I can get on with whatever rises up to challenge me.

Other than that, it’s mostly a question of, as John Irving wrote in Hotel New Hampshire, that I “keep passing the open windows.”

Love.

Amy

A New Adventure

2011-05-13T12:49:00.000-07:00

Our little enterprise has its home base in the “Heart of the Finger Lakes”, or, as I most lovingly refer to it, “the Middle Finger of the Finger Lakes”, and we have decided that it is high time that we make our presence known. With that end in mind, Meg (that sweet lovely voice you hear on the phone when you call in) and I (me), will be driving on over to Elsbeth Rose East Boutique in Fayetteville, New York this Saturday, May 14^th, 2011, to do our first ever “The One and Only, Be There or Be Square, Come Play Dress Up and Have Fun With Amy Brill Club Trunk Show”! Or something like that. I think it will be a complete hoot. But I know that it won’t be nearly as much fun unless you say that YOU can come too. We’ll be there from 12:00pm to 4:00pm at 100 Salt Springs St Fayetteville, NY 13066 (Phone: 315.637.7500) and here’s how you get there.

Now, here’s how some of the fun is going to happen. Meg has already sent the samples from our Fall One line over to the store, so I think they are going to be there starting today, maybe. The idea is that YOU are going to get to not only pre-order exactly what you want in exactly the sizes and colors that you want them because you are going to get to play dress up with the actual samples themselves, BUT you are actually going to have a say, a voice, a vote in what your own friendly local boutique carries just for you! This is your chance to begin to customize your shopping experience to suit your needs. Bring all of your friends! I know that Sharon, one of our knitters, is driving in especially to meet all of you, and I am planning on embarrassing her in only the kindest of ways, by telling you which sweaters she knit with her own two hands…..Isn’t that alone worth the price of admission (which by the way is free, AND Meg and I are bringing chocolate AND lollipops!)

I’m not sure if you know this, but for the last little while now, we’ve been making things other than my regular sweaters – that is, if you can call my regular sweaters regular. I’ve designed two different clothing lines that co-ordinate with the sweaters. Both are simple and elegant, easy to wear, easy to travel, easy to clean elemental pieces. One line is called Basicwear, and it consists of black daily wear in matte jersey or soft mesh.; The other is named Evolution Silks.- These are hand manipulated pre-washed silks either for sheer volume for crinkly texturized fun in colors that always work back to the sweaters of the season.

And then of course, the Webwerk Collection – lighter than air, architectural linen sweaters that are cagey and clever and sure to make a statement. Everything will be there, waiting for you at Elsbeth Rose East on Saturday.

Along with a fabulous selection of Instant Gratification Buy Me! Buy Me! Now! Now! Now! One of a kind pieces. Amy’s Jewels. Things that you will never see again. Things I know that you’ll fight over unless you are there to grab them first…….

You will never know what you’ve missed if you don’t come on down! I couldn’t even sleep last night just dreaming about meeting all of you! And you know that I say this with…..

Love.

Amy

Capitol One, Purl Two

2011-05-05T07:43:00.001-07:00

I know that its hard for all of you to hold it together while I am out of town at one of my wholesale shows, especially for the President and the government at large, so just keep this thought and this image in mind…. Capitol One, Purl Two. Don’t unravel. I’ll soon be back at home base. Until then, I leave you in the strong and capable hands of my good right arm, Meg.

Love.

Amy

Spring in Your Step

2011-04-28T10:53:00.000-07:00

There is something about the coming of Spring in Mythica, New York that is quite fantastical. The air becomes heady and lush and there is a green that is quite unlike anything else anywhere. Oh, that spring green! It is almost like a cross between Kelly Green and Chartreuse and let me tell you, Mother Nature certainly wears it well. She lays out her carpet overnight it seems, with the promise of the wonders to follow. But then again, I like seasons.

Mythica takes its time before it teases us with Spring. It has now just arrived this week, and generally, I must tell you, if you are not from the area here, we are not safe from Winter’s blast until our famous annual Mother’s Day Snow Storm. And of course, Spring is notoriously short. Perhaps a day or two. And then straight off headlong into Summer.

Yet, after Winter’s long dark dreary days, what a blessed relief. Looking outside and seeing all of the buds and flowers begin their kaleidoscope of plumage, I had a most magnificent brainstorm. I began to create my ‘Evolution Silk Bloomers’! A series of hand manipulated scrunched silk flower brooches – art-to-wear that not only co-ordinates with the Evolution Silk Clothing line, but would also be incredible statement pieces to any item of clothing already in your wardrobe.

You must have realized by now that not only do I like to make things, but I also like to make things as difficult as possible sometimes. These Bloomers are really interesting for me. They take so long to transform from flat pieces of silk into sculptural three dimensional flowers. Each step along the way is a waiting game. And in each step along the way, each one changes dramatically. Each one blossoms into its own one of a kind beauty from its own small oddly shaped bud. Some become playful riots of color and some could almost pass for a varietal of something or other. I’ve had a hand in each step along the way, but somewhere a bit of magic has crept in too, because I know that I must have gotten some help from somewhere special to make these.

I can’t wait for you to see them. They are in full bloom here right now. I’m taking them with me to the Atelier, and then they should be popping up everywhere really soon. You need to reserve your own as soon as possible.

Love.

Amy

Support Your Local …

2011-04-21T08:55:00.000-07:00

I’m afraid I’m going to go off on one of my world famous rants again this week folks. I was reading Elle magazine from last month and an article on ‘Retail Therapy’ was talking about how “two store owners are putting the thrill back into brick-and-mortar shopping with extravagantly priced, hard-to-find clothes and top-flight service”.

Well, I gotta tell you, there are those of us out here that have been doing this for ages, and without the extravagant prices. Your local designers and local boutiques and shops are the ones who look out for you and look after you and take care of you.

We used to live in a world of “mom and pop” stores, where the folks who owned the shops, not only ran the shops, but also knew the business at hand. Mom and Pop either hired people who were knowledgeable or they trained their staff in the skills necessary for the jobs needed to run that business. If you went to a dress shop, there was someone there who did the alterations on your purchases. There were tailors who knew how to measure a man for a suit. And these are just a few of the services that your local boutiques usually offer to you.

I don’t sell to large chain stores. We couldn’t possibly fill a huge order, since everything we make is knit to order. Your local boutique listens to your needs and they order what they think you will love to buy. They keep track of what you already have in your wardrobe and they help you build and expand your style. They work with you and they work for you.

I am a local business and I support my local businesses. I hire locally and I spend locally. And then I expand my sphere out to all of America. But that’s just me. I know it’s tough; we are all of us swayed by cheaper-faster-now. It’s just that it is kind of wonderful to know that we are taking the time, we are making the effort, and we are giving ourselves the chance to put our faith in our own neighbors once again. Every little bit makes more of a difference than you might realize, but we are on the right path. And I say this to you with…..

Love.

Amy

Disposable

2011-04-14T06:31:00.001-07:00

Everything moves at such a fast pace nowadays. Everyone wants everything innaminnit. But they don’t seem to care how long it lasts. We seem to be living in a disposable society. And we are looking for disposable thrills. We search out disposable fashion and we pay for it with our disposable income. However, I don’t think that quick and disposable is always the way that we should go.

Truth be told, if truth must be told, I myself have been guilty of standing in front of the microwave and saying, “Come on! I don’t have all minute!” Can you believe that folks actually had to wait for water to boil? Will wonders never cease?

Here at home base, we make sweaters that last. Flash fads may come and go, but good bones and well made style will always win out. And it’s a good thing, too, because, well, I’ve still got the first sweater I ever made. I wear it all the time and it brings me pleasure .And if someone asked me for it, I’d be proud to give it to them. I’ve given lots of my own wardrobe away, and generally right off my back. It’s a really fun thing to do and generally totally unexpected. Someone compliments something that I am wearing, and I give it to them. Unless it is my current favorite thing and I simply must be looking at it every day. Or one of my security pieces that I wear all of the time and would just feel scanty without. Well, you know how it is. As Mark Twain said, “Clothes make the man. Naked people have little or no influence on society.”

Perhaps that’s it. We need something to make us feel that we have some sort of influence, and so we go about disposing of so many things so quickly, and we do not allow them to age and mellow. Or perhaps we don’t allow ourselves to grow into ourselves. Perhaps we are afraid to let ourselves age and mellow. I think it’s a great thing. More and more I am comfortable inside myself and I feel myself filling out all of the nooks and crannies of “me”. The fullness of me. I think that I am quite fine.

But then again, if I begin to get too full of myself, my dogs are always there to remind me that the woods are quite full also; full of new disposable “sculptures” that they make for me….every day. That seems to always bring me back to reality really quickly. I’ll save a few for you if you’d like.

Love.

Amy

Grateful and Great Full

2011-04-07T08:25:00.001-07:00

I haven’t told you this month about how fantastic this year is, so before I do anything else, let me remind you – This is such a special year! I am so grateful for it. Each day has its challenges, to be sure, but every day is Great; Full up with new things.

We had such an incredible photo shoot with Sheryl Sinkow on Tuesday (www.sinkowphotography.com) to get some shots for the Atelier Designers Show (www.atelierdesigners.com) that we are doing May 2,3,4 right in Times Square (New York City) to show off our Fall One collection of Totally Brill(iant) goodies. I am so grateful for her. What a pair of eyes on that gal! She is the official photographer for Amy Brill Sweaters and she’s the one responsible for making everything look so great (me included!).

Meg set up all of the outfits and got to play ‘dress up Barbie’ on me – even down to the groovy half bun, half long braid down my back hairdo…to which I got to reply my own special quote, “Hair and thighs, I can grow ‘em!” Meg has now been with our little company for just over eight months now and wow wow wowie, has she ever whipped it into shape! I am more grateful for her than I can say. Because of her, we are now Great Full! Or at least well on our way.

And then I got to ‘go out there’ onto the seamless white paper and into the spotlight once again, to try to find ways to present to you how fun it is to wear all of the wearables that we make here, because that is what it’s all about after all, feeling great and wearing clothing that looks as great as it makes you feel. Besides all of that, it gives me a chance to connect with you(!) and to show you that I am now, as always, most grateful for you.

Love.

Amy

Optimism, or What I Found Out About The Glass and It Being Empty or Full……

2011-03-31T08:44:00.001-07:00

I have heard it said that an Optimist is someone who sees the glass as half full and a Pessimist is someone who sees the glass as half empty, but in the light of all things being unequal, I started researching this tidy catch-phrase and found a few alternatives that I’d like to share with you.

George Carlin, a fave rave of mine and a man of quite a few words, said “an optimist….; a pessimist….; but I see the glass as too damn big!” I like that. But then again, he also said, “Some people see things that are and ask, Why? Some people dream of things that never were and ask, Why not? Some people have to go to work and don’t f**king have time for all that sh*t.”

Sometimes you’ve just got to look up at the stars for a while and scratch your (r)ear. (Thanks, PeeWee.)

Bill Cosby said, “Is the glass half empty or half full? It depends on whether you’re pouring or drinking.”

The Engineer says that the glass is twice as big as it needs to be.
Dean Martin said, “Hey, who drank half of my drink?”
And the Wiseman said, “And then I met a man who had no feet”.

All in all, I think that Optimism is a very good thing. I’m happy to be where I am, doing what I’m doing. Except for one very important realization that I had that I’m going to share with you. Now listen very very carefully. Whenever I am in a doctor’s office, and someone says, “How are you today?” I always say, “ I feel awful! That’s why I’ve come to see the doctor!”

Our online shopping cart has just gone live for our ‘one-of-a-kind’ pieces, overstocks, and vintage sweaters. There are only a few sweaters up there now, but its pretty cool. You should take a look and let me know what you think. www.totallybrill.com. As time goes on, you’ll begin to see some very fun things pop up, including yarns and jewelry, too.

Oh, about that glass half empty, glass half full thing? I would prefer a glass of the appropriate size for my needs at the appropriate time. But then again, perhaps I am simply beginning to learn how to be pro-active.

Love.
Amy

Caution! Open Sewers! Or, Heteronyms on the Loose.

2011-03-24T06:20:00.000-07:00

And I thought that it was hard enough to deal with people.

The English language is sometimes more than I can bear (“put up with something or somebody unpleasant” and not “massive plantigrade carnivorous or omnivorous mammal with long shaggy coat and strong claws”, nor even “cause to be born” for that matter). And do not start me on claws/clause…..

I have always wondered why folks who use needles and thread to whip up clothing and such get to use big flashy government signs by the sides of the road to advertise themselves. Caution. Open Sewers. Why do we need to be so careful around people who sew? When are they open? Why do we have to be so cautious? Who are these people anyway? And why is a sewer in a sewer? I must be missing something important.

And then I realized it was all in the pronunciation and in the definition. The English language. The Heteronym. What a concept.

Do you know what I am saying when I write that I shed a tear when I tear my favorite dress? Or do you have to think about it for longer than it really matters? For your own sake, I am going to tell your alternate to alternate worrying about when the sake will arrive. Whenever my back hurts, I feel like an invalid and my decisions might be invalid. Is it appropriate to appropriate my advocate to advocate for a bass bass?

I think I am close to a close here, and as I approach the entrance, I want you all to know that my sole purpose for this blog this week, and this I swear this from my head to my sole, was only to entrance you.

Love.

Amy

The Wearing O’ the Green; or Saint Patrick, the Paul Bunyan of Ireland.

2011-03-17T10:27:00.000-07:00

Everyone loves a good story. And this one’s a doozy. It seems that Ireland’s own Paddy boy wasn’t even Irish. Born most likely in Wales to a family forever in the clergy, the lad was kidnapped by pirates and swept off to sea at a young age and forced into indentured servitude while he was out one day tending the sheep. Late one night onboard the pirate’s ship, he heard the voice of God telling him that he must escape to Ireland and convert the heathens there to Christianity. To prove himself on the level, God grants him the power to rid the country of snakes. And as a simple and effective learning tool, God tells Patrick to use a shamrock to teach the people about the Holy Trinity. The boy becomes a man. The man becomes a saint. The Saint begins to wear green cloaks with the image of a shamrock emblazoned upon it. Voila! Fast forward centuries….

We happy folks decide that we need a break already from the tedium of Lent and figure that St. Patrick’s Day is just the thing. A good nice day just for drinking and carousing – and whaddaya know – a real historical and religious reference for it!

In1962, Chicago sewer workers, who had long used a green dye to check for leaks in the system, decide to incorporate their testing with a sense of playful holiday spirit and begin to dye the river green. In the Northeast, peas are traditionally planted on St. Patrick’s Day. We just like a reason to take a break, to hear a good tale, to have a drink, and to be told what color to wear.

Ah, lassies and laddies, ‘tis a fine day. Get out and enjoy it all to the fullest. Each and every day is a gift, don’t you know. A gift to be cherished. There is no time like the present. And a present it is.

Love.

Amy

“To Err is Human, To Re-stock, Divine”.... (Thank you, WWD)

2011-03-10T11:08:00.000-08:00

There is no accounting for taste. Not in fashion, nor in food. And yet, I’ve gotta tell you, I am simply lovin’ what I’ve been coming up with for my Fall One line. Everything has gotten shipped off (well, almost, but that’s another story) to California to debut in Los Angeles at market with my sales rep out there. All waiting for you to love, order, and then, re- order!

The Fall One color line-up is fabulous - Cranberry Crush, Plum Raisin and Caper are the newest tonal yarns, each a blend of cool and warm in such a delicious way that they complement all skin tones. Shangri-La, Mahogany and Ginger are the newest tweedy yarns – really saturated mixes that pop out whatever solid you are wearing with them.

I have muscle aches from the growing pains our little business has been undergoing of late, most remarkable, most outrageous. Sometimes I feel like my brain is splitting apart, trying to keep track of all of the pieces of information ‘post-it noted’ to the walls inside my head. But, as Carlos Castaneda once said,

“The trick is in what one emphasizes. We either make ourselves miserable, or we make ourselves happy. The amount of work is the same.”

As I was planning out my colors and developing new styles, I realized something that I hadn’t ever noticed about myself before. Not that I talk to myself, because I know that I do that, been doing that for years and years; nor that I talk to myself out loud, because that is nothing new to me either. But, when I start to come up with something that I like, or something that I realize is good, I tell myself so. I compliment myself on good work.

I don’t know if I have always done this; but at least I do it now. And it appears that I have been sub-consciously positively self-talking for quite a while now. Co-ol, I say. Coolie cool. Because now it is right out there in the open. And now that I have caught myself at it, I’m here to tell you that it’s a good thing to do. Everyone needs to hear compliments. Even if one tells them to one’s own self.

There are these fantastic great new styles in the line up for this coming Fall. Even the names are attention grabbers. Tabulator, Wachu, Tasca, Oober, Bubble Up… I am so proud of all of them. I can’t wait for you to see them. They have details and buttons and more flair than ever. Believe you me. And how do I know this? Because I’ve already told myself how terrific they are.

Love.

Amy

Curves Ahead

2011-03-03T09:23:00.000-08:00

I’ve said it before and I’ll say it again and many times, this year is an amazing year. Already going by so fast! Already so interesting! Already so amazing! I am thankful for my life every day. And thank full for all of you as well.

I love my birthday. Nothing dampens its wonder or its fun for me. I continue to walk up to strangers and tell them that it is my birthday and wait for them to either sing to me or wish me well. In fact, last Tuesday when someone said, “So? Whattaya want me to do? Sing?” I said, quite matter of factly, “Yes.” And a just beforehand dour faced stranger in line in front of me broke into quite a rousing chorus of Happy Birthday for me in the sweetest little voice this side of the Mason/Dixon line.

I think I have most contentedly and happily reached the age of being an Eccentric. I have waited for this particular moment my entire life.

What a year full of learning curves this is turning out to be. And not to go all metaphysical on you, isn’t life simply an ever expanding series of learning curves? I started pondering that this morning while I was walking the dogs around the woods, feeling just a tad overwhelmed with the knowledge that when I start thinking about one thing that I have to do, I realize that there are ten other things in the line up before it that are pushing up against it, waiting their turn as well. Hmm. To paraphrase a bad Borscht belt joke, when a sole proprietor answers her own question alone in the woods and there is no one there to hear her, is she still wrong?

You know me. I always like to look for the fun in everything. So I decided to turn those learning curves into something three dimensional and do you know what I came up with?

A Roller Coaster.

And that is what this all mostly feels like a lot of the time. Either it’s exciting and fun, and you sit in the front car and put your hands up in the air, and you squeal with delight. Or you hand over your ticket to the next person in line and you say,”Woulda, Shoulda, Coulda,” your whole life, knowing full well that you did not when you had the chance. Let me tell you something that I have learned from experience. I have found that it is much better to get on the ride when you can; make yourself do it if you have to. I say that even if you throw up over the side the entire time, even if you hate it; you will have done it. And then you can make an informed decision the next time.

My mantra has always been: “What’s the worst that could happen? I could fail.” I don’t find failure that scary. It gives me a lot more information for the next time. Success is what I aim for; but failure makes for a really good story.

And as for Roller Coasters? Oh My Goodness! I hate that first big drop when it feels like your head is going to explode and your heart is going to get torn from your chest (doesn’t that sound just like Life?), but, Oh My Goodness! I love the twisty round and rounds! (that, too….)

Love.

Amy

D.O.B.

2011-02-24T11:34:00.001-08:00

My birthday is rapidly approaching and I figured that I ought to begin to send out my delicate reminders in case you need an extended period of time to plan or to order something remarkable that comes from a long distance away or takes an incredibly long time to make. Too bad. You need to work quickly. You don’t really have enough time for any of that.

I am the March Fool, and unlike an April fool, I am quite serious about birthday celebrations and look forward to them with great anticipation. I do not set about to play the Trickster, although my birthday is also on the first of the month. By the next blog, it will be too late to wish me good tidings on the actual date, so think up something lovely to say or write, or better yet, really send me something adorable and you will have made my day. February is that short month and March comes in like a Lion, just like that song says it does. Or perhaps that’s the way it always feels to me, because March comes in with my birthday.

I am in good company as a March first baby, because my favorite birthday “twins” are Harry Belafonte and David Niven, but perhaps that’s because I’ve known and loved them the longest. You just can’t go wrong with Ron Howard, Javier Bardem or Justin Bieber either. And I know that as the years go by, I shall find more and more special birthday friends, real and imagined, that I’ll invite into the First of March Best Buds Festival. (Oh, Ron Howard, if you are reading, you really rank right up there, because everyone who really knows me, knows that I always say, “Red heads are the best heads”, so it’s you and me, boy.)

I think I’ll sign out now so that you have plenty of time to rush right out and find something fabulous for me, besides, I just read through a whole bunch of information about what Pisces people are like and I can’t believe that I wrote all of that stuff about myself. I really really hope that you don’t judge me too harshly. Oh, you wouldn’t do that, would you? Oh no, whatever will I do if you don’t like what I’ve written? I mean, I care so much about all of you. Although I doubt that anyone out there is reading any of this at all. I can’t seem to finish anything that I start, but nothing that I do is any good anyway. I mean, I think I have some ideas, but then, uh, well, gee, I don’t know. I am feeling really wishy washy now. Maybe I’ll just go and lie down for a while. Or maybe I am just being mysterious and elusive.

In any case, one thing you will always know for sure is….

Love.

Amy

Fun(nel) Vision

2011-02-17T10:56:00.000-08:00

“So much time; so little to do. Stop. Reverse that.” -Willy Wonka

There is too much to do and too little time to get it done. But then again, haven’t you noticed that the job in front of you always seems to expand to overfill the amount of time that you have? And never enough time for idle day dreams. I say to Heck with that! I have just invented something daring and new. Something so novel and yet so simple that you will be astounded that no one has thought of it before this.

Fun(nel) Vision!

Everyday, go ahead and do everything that you normally do, everything that you think you really really need to do, everything that you have to do, everything that you should do, everything that you’ve just gotta do, just like you always do every darn day of your life as usual, but, at some point during the day, you picture, you en(VISION), if you will, and please do, just for me, pretty pretty please, a FUN(nel), that is floating just above your head. And you fill this FUN(nel) with something silly for today. And on the count of T*H*R*E*E*!, all of that silliness oozes out of the FUN(nel) and onto your head, just like when someone used to clap their hands over your head and pretend that they were cracking an egg on your head. You remember, I know you do. And as you feel that silliness oozing over your head, I want you to break out into your bestest silly grin. There now, that wasn’t too hard, was it? And kind of fun?

It isn’t much of a journey, but it’s a start. And you have taken your first steps along the way into the joys of Fun(nel) Vision. Here’s grinning at you, kid.

Love.

Amy

Brill’s Companion to Aphrodite

2011-02-10T08:20:00.000-08:00

Just when I was struggling with my topic for this week, my good friend Rebecca sent me over a link to a book with the above title. Coincidence? I think not. Here we are mere days away from the Lovers’ Holiday, and although I personally have nothing at all to do with this published tome, I will indeed assume a direct relevance due to surname and proximity of subject matter. So thank you, Rebecca!

Ah, yes. Here I am, Brill’s companion to Aphrodite. I kinda like that. In Greek mythology, Aphrodite is the Goddess of love, beauty, and sexual rapture. In Roman mythology, Aphrodite is called Venus and she is the goddess of love and beauty. Today we know her better as Venus, I suppose - Venus with her son Cupid who shoots those love arrows. But still and ah me, doesn’t it just miss the mark a bit to have left out sexual rapture? I know that I for one certainly miss it. But perhaps that’s just me…

Oh, wait, I found out a really totally brill tidbit of true and honest historical information while I was rambling around researching for this week’s blog. In this painting, The Birth of Venus, Botticelli’s model was a woman named Simonetta Vespucci, the most beautiful woman in Italy, and a woman with whom Botticelli was quite obsessed. Does her last name ring a bell? Her husband’s cousin was Amerigo Vespucci, the man for whom America was named! But, back to Aphrodite…

There is something so, um, so, titillating about the concept of sexual rapture, of aphrodisiacs, of love conquering all, but even in this, we are brought back once again to Earthly tethers and the constraints of humanity. The ache of love, our heart shot through by Cupid’s arrow, for without pain, how can we know the joy of love? In all things there is a balance. We welcome sunshine because we have known darkness. We exult in each tiny miracle because we have known despair and hardship. And even when we think there is no one to care for us, a stranger smiles in our direction by chance, and we feel an overwhelming sense of peace wash our cares away in an instant, and odd as it may be, we feel the warmth of unconditional love.

Happy Valentine’s Day, sweeties.

Love.

Amy

Dirty Laundry

2011-02-03T09:06:00.000-08:00

You’ve all heard me talk about my boy Pax, (and if not you can read about him back in the blog posted on Thursday, August 6, 2009) and you’ve heard me wax poetic about both of my dogs, but I haven’t really spent any quality time telling you about the other dog who lives with me here, that Bond Girl of dogdom, that ‘Puppy Galore’, the amazing Sendero’s Dirty Laundry.

I know what you are thinking. That so many things in my life seem too impossible to be true. But they are. Or perhaps too implausible to be true. But they are. And yet, coincidences? I think not. Blessings. Most assuredly.

So there I was, at such an awful point in my life. Not even at the midpoint of going through a terrible divorce, but definitely at the stage where there was a whole lot of, dare I say it? dirty laundry being aired. Not fun, and believe you me, I am the kind of person who really makes an effort to look for anything even the least bit funny in any situation. And then MJ Millner showed up at my doorstep with the most adorable baby girl Briard for me, whose name “just happened to be Dirty Laundry”, and whose call name was “Air”.

So there she was right there in front of me. In the (dog) flesh. Airing Dirty Laundry. Coincidence? I think not. And just as my Darling MJ gave me Pax when I desperately needed peace; now she brought me Dirty Laundry for comic relief. No wonder her remarkable kennel Sendero translates into “the way”. She certainly has the most magical way of knowing just the perfect thing. And she does have the best Briards there are.

“Air” was too hard for me to yell, so from day one, I have called my baby girl, “Bounce”. I figure that Bounce also makes dirty laundry smell good too, so Bounce it has been for over two years now. Bounce is a wild child and a talker, or rather, a crybaby. I wish that I had one of those devices that I could put on her to translate what she is saying to me, because she certainly has a lot to say, and she has a remarkable range in her speaking voice. And then there is her Roo. One of my favorite things a Briard can do. I guess to the untrained ear it is merely a mournful howl, but oh, to a Briard lover, that sound is well worth the wait and quite glorious. Harooooo.

Bounce is friendly and gregarious; everything that Pax is not. She is easy to please and quick to forgive; everything that I would like to be. And yet, she is still that horrible willful wild child who would rather turn her head away and pretend to be deaf if it means stopping what she wants to do and listening to me one second before she is ready to do so.

Then again, she has this habit of backing up into me between my legs when I am sitting somewhere that I find most appealing, and even though she might never quite acknowledge it, I know that she finds me most appealing as well.

Love.
Amy

Ix Chel, Ma Belle

2011-01-27T12:11:00.000-08:00

The Goddess who wears many hats. Nowadays everyone has to multi-task. Why, even a Goddess’s work is never done.

I just got back from a very interesting trip and among the places I visited was Cozumel, where I went to see the ruins of the temples to Ix Chel. I really really like her. Ya never know how she will appear. She might be old; she might be young. The Goddess of the Moon; The Goddess of Fertility; The Goddess of Abundance. The Rainbow Goddess. Also The Goddess of Catastrophe. She is said to have been almost too beautiful. She is known to have had many lovers, and when those lovers begin to annoy her too much, she becomes invisible to them, and goes over to her Temple and does a little midwife duty to help pregnant women go through their labor easily and give birth to beautiful healthy babies. I thought that the Mayans had enough deities to go around, but apparently not, because Ix Chel’s work is never done. She is fast becoming my favorite multi-tasker.

Ix Chel also has quite a wonderful and most modern Goddess function to perform that I think we should discuss a bit here. She refused to become a victim of oppression. She was a woman, who was faced with adversity, and she met her challenges head on, and she turned her life around. She encourages us to assert ourselves against any negative forces in our lives and to stand up for ourselves so that we may live our lives fully and on our own terms. Anything that diminishes us in any way diminishes us in every way. I am lovin’ this Goddess.

I thought I heard the tour guide say that Ix Chel is a 60-70 year old woman with a snake on her head, a placenta in one hand, and a bowl of water in her other hand. I thought to myself, “Now, this is a Goddess that I can relate to!” She’s 60-70, so she needs an extra placenta. And it’s pretty hot out here, so a bowl of water would come in handy. And a snake on your head? Although not my idea of the perfect accessory, it still makes quite a statement. This chick’s got it goin’ on. I was rudely corrected by my traveling companion who let me know that I had once again misheard. Not 60 to 70 at all, but sixTEEN to SevenTEEN. What a rip off. Why would a teenager need an extra placenta? And definitely too young to be a GodDESS, as far as I am concerned.

So, I looked it up when I got home. It turns out that we both were right. Ix Chel is a sexy little shape shifter. She is all things. Young, old and in between. And so much more than that - something even better.

Not only is she the Goddess of fertility, abundance, and adversity, but she is also the Goddess of Embroidery. Oh those wacky, wacky Mayans. Even they knew the importance of looking your best for every occasion.

But, to complete the circle of mystic Mayan magic marvels, I really need to tell you about the last leg of my journey homeward. I spent a few days with my parents, or rather, back in the bosom of the Three Families with whom I grew up. More about that another time, but let me set your imaginations running wild with this notion: my mother has two sisters and these three women have never ever been apart in their entire lives. And, my father’s sibs were all very close as well, and all of us on that side of the family got together almost weekly, but The Three Families have always lived side by side. And still do to this day. My Mother is the middle sister. She is 86. So I spent some time at the outer edge of Ix Chel’s women, the elder Goddesses, standing up to adversity as best they can, putting on their brave masks over frightened faces. And then I boarded a plane for the final flight to tiny Ithaca and wound up sitting next to, you guessed it, Ix Chel once again. A young woman with a radiant smile, nursing, yes, actually nursing right there in the seat next to me, the most glorious shining cheeked baby girl who smiled and giggled the whole way home. And the baby’s name? You won’t believe it. No. Not Ix Chel. That would be ridiculous. The baby’s name is Maya…

Oh by the way, I found out something just for you folks who are worrying about 2012. The Mayan calendar does NOT end then. The Mayans used two circles for their calendar. And there is no end to it. The circles simply realign and begin again. So, mystery solved! No worries! Be Happy! Your lives will go on and on for a good long time without a hitch. In fact, everything is going to get better and better. But I told you that at the very beginning of this year! So, it is time for you to begin to stock up on lots of Amy Brill Sweaters. Not only are they good for what ails you, but they also will last a good long time, and you will look absolutely marvelous to boot. Viva Ix Chel, the Multi-tasking Goddess, and Viva Amy Brill and her Multi-tasking Wardrobe Sweaters!

Love.

Amy

PS. The image is a sculpture by my brother, Curt Brill. www.curtbrill.com

The Right Stuff

2011-01-13T09:05:00.000-08:00

Marilyn Monroe was a size twelve.

I rest my case.

Love.

Amy

One piece at a time…

2011-01-06T10:47:00.000-08:00

I wake up each morning realizing that I am “Lucky Pierre”. I’ve got two large dogs flanking me, leaning in against me, and nine times out of ten, they are lying on their backs with their little pink underbellies exposed to me, clearly showing me that even in sleep they trust me. I really can’t say a thing about unconditional love or poop like that, and gee whiz, they are a pain in my ass a whole lot, but I gotta tell you, every pet is a million dollar pet, and worth a sumo wrestler’s weight in gold. Even if it’s only because every single day they will do at least one thing that is so spectacular it will drop you to your knees in either amazement or hysteria. There is absolutely nothing like that tiny head tilt, is there?

The Sun is getting up earlier and the days are already getting longer, have you noticed? It is not even dark at 4:30 anymore! This is a magnificent year and it has only just begun.

Meg and I had a photography session on Monday with Sheryl Sinkow, the official photographer of Amy Brill Sweaters. Sheryl is totally brilliant. Go to her website and either find a way to have her photograph you or else you must choose something from her fine portfolio. Oh, my Darlings! Sheryl is better than Botox! We were doing the catalog shots for the Atelier Designers show that already need to be there tomorrow. You will all soon get to meet Meg and be able to put her beautiful face with her beautiful voice.

Once again, I have to tell you, I am so thrilled with the new work that we are turning out. There are new layers and new textures and new silhouettes. I personally like to dress in layers. Always have. Perhaps that comes from having been a dancer and working in really cold rehearsal studios. Perhaps it continues from living in an old stone house that is too big for me to heat. Maybe it’s because I love the concept of altering my own shape by adjusting my silhouette in textures and colors, layered one on top of the other. Or because I have always said that you don’t get to see what I really look like unless you marry me.

But finally we are beginning to put it all together for you. Right here. One piece at a time. One piece over another. In a way that works so easily, you will soon be as thrilled as I am.

Just keep on paying attention. It’s all so much fun. Every day into this New Year is wonderful, exciting, and delightful. Let’s not miss a moment of it.

Love.

Amy

Whispering into the wind

2010-12-30T14:03:00.000-08:00

I am always excited to feel the new year begin to enliven my spirit. Something starts to bubble up inside me as I look forward to what the next day, the next year, will bring. I like looking forward. Long ago I stopped making new year’s resolutions; instead I began to give myself small attainable goals. Small Achievable goals. So that I find myself always in a state of happily looking forward; looking ahead to completing tasks that I have set for myself and checking them off my list instead of cringing and worrying about when I will break down and fail; when the wheels will fall off the cart; when I will not be able to hold myself to the harsh and impossible resolutions that I used to put out there in front of me. Boy oh boy, it sure is better to succeed than it is to fail. It is better to laugh out loud than to cower in defeat. I have heard it said that happiness is a choice, but I don’t think it is quite that easy for all of us. Sometimes we need to set out really big road markers for ourselves so that it becomes impossible to miss the path, because we have become so adept at tripping ourselves up. Happiness sometimes is a well lit trail with lots of treats along the way.

I am getting in my samples now for the next set of shows that are coming up. It’s like my birthday every day! I worked on the colors for the yarns so long ago and now the sweaters are coming in one at a time and they are so gorgeous! There are a bunch of new styles that I can’t wait for you to see. And some of these colors are brighter and more vibrant than any colors I’ve ever done before. I wonder if this means that I’ve begun to see our future as something brighter and more vibrant as well?

I have also been creating some entirely new design work. I found a linen yarn that is really sort of crisp and crunchy and I came up with a whole small line of sweaters that I’ve named “webwerk”. The designs are very simple and classic and can be worn right side out or inside out. They are so sculptural and fabulous! Almost architectural in their elegance. They weigh nothing, and you can bend them to your will. You are really going to swoon over these pieces.

And webwerk will wear most excellently over my hand manipulated silk organzas and silk habotais. A tea shirt, a tea tunic, a tea dress, a slip, and a sleeveless wear front or back tank dress, change looks dramatically as they are twisted or scrunched. I’m thinking of calling my silks…”a bissel fakrimpt”. It’s a long name that means ‘a little wrinkled’ in Yiddish, so perhaps we’ll just keep that name between us and giggle about it, but I am so tickled about how everything is coming together for the start of this bright new year. We are in for a most wonderful ride.

As the old year draws madly to an end, I whisper words into the wind of great thanks and my best wishes to all of you and I fervently hope that my prayers reach you and find you well.

Be happy. Enjoy everything. And always remember…

Love.

Amy

Miracle on 34th Street

2010-12-23T06:01:00.000-08:00

I loved telling Helen Keller jokes in High School. There was just something about those stupid jokes that struck me as hysterical. “What did Helen Keller get for Christmas? Polio. She had everything else.” Yeah. I know. Don’t even bother to tell me. I am going directly to Hell. I will not even stop at Go. I will not collect two hundred dollars. But it didn’t occur to me then. And it didn’t occur to me until quite a few years later when I lived in Rochester, New York and I had begun to work with the deaf. I learned sign language as penance. I will admit it. But then I went on with it and worked with a deaf sign-mime troupe for the love of it. Sign-Mime is a glorious thing, almost cinematographic in nature. And working with the deaf is mind-blowing altogether. I can’t tell you how often we ran into people who instinctively believed that hearing impaired people are mentally challenged as well. Something along the same lines as talking really loudly in English to someone who doesn’t understand English as a way to make them understand you. Doesn’t work. No how. But I have seen young children capable of finger-spelling every letter of every word they wished to say. Could you spell every letter of every word in every sentence that you wanted to say to someone when you were in the first grade? Were you considered mentally challenged because you could not? Anyway, this is not the point I am trying to make here. But it is a good thing to remember in the grand scheme of things.

So, keep in mind that I am at this point, back then, pretty fluent in sign language. I now must ask you to swear an oath of secrecy for the entire rest of the story.

I was Mickey Mouse.

Actually, it was the first time the Disney Corporation had allowed “the suit” to be used outside strict confines, but as you may or may not know, I have mad performing creds. Also I’m short and I fit the height requirement. But, mostly I have mad performing creds. But the ad agency that hired me to do this set of appearances in Massachusetts and in the New York State Capitol region had no idea just who they were putting into “the suit”.

I had to slip into a locked room and change into “the suit” and come out without anyone having seen me. I had two armed guards flanking me at all times. There will be no incidences involving the Icon ever. The guards themselves did not know who I was. Before donning “the suit”, I had no idea what it might be like to actually be an Icon. It’s pretty great. But then again, it was Mickey Mouse!

There were lots of things that happened during my term as Mickey. Why, because I love him! But there is that one thing that still stands the hairs up on the backs of my arms.

One of the reasons that I had taken this “Mickey” gig was because I wanted to find a way to be a performer, have to wear one of those “big heads”, and not scare children. Mickey cannot speak. Mickey’s mouth does not move. Mickey has a great big head. I was signing autographs in a hall of about two thousand people, parents and children, who were waiting patiently in line, and there was music playing, Disney of course.

I motioned to the next mother and child to come over to me and the mother came up a little faster than the child. She told me that she had just adopted her little son and that he was deaf, but that he told her that if I was the “real Mickey Mouse”, I would know how to talk to him. She said that she knew that I wasn’t real, but she couldn’t seem to talk him out of this and that he came all this way and waited in line all of this time and that she just really didn’t know what to do. I put my arm around her and led her off to one side. I turned and faced the young boy.

Remember that scene in “Miracle on 34th Street” when the mother comes over to Santa and the girl is adopted and she’s from Sweden or something and she only speaks Swedish? Remember that I was going straight to Hell for all of those Helen Keller jokes?
I did Mickey proud that day.

For that little stretch of time, I was the “real” Mickey Mouse. I signed to the boy; we signed to each other; we sign-sang a song together; and the mother and the entire hall started weeping and applauding as our own Miracle on 34th Street occurred. But Mickey Mouse and the boy heard nothing, they just stared into each others’ eyes and smiled, secure in the knowledge that belief is strong enough to keep truths alive.

“……if you keep on believing, the dreams that you wish, will come true.”-Mack David & Jerry Livingston….& Cinderella.

Love.
Amy

Hold On!

2010-12-16T09:36:00.000-08:00

“We need 4 hugs a day for survival. We need 8 hugs a day for maintenance. We need 12 hugs a day for growth.”

—Virginia Satir, family therapist

I agree with this wholeheartedly. The human touch is very important. Hmm. I guess I will go one step further than that and I will say that touch itself is very important to humans. A hug of any sort is a good thing. That is why they are now allowing folks to bring animals into nursing homes and hospitals and hospice centers. Hugging a warm furry thing is real nice, too. Healing, some might argue. And they wouldn’t have to argue very hard because I already agree with them.

But don’t give me no pat-pat-pat kinds of hugs. Oh you know the ones that I’m talking about here. I’ll give you two prime examples of my chief offenders. The first is that ‘petting pat’ that you see someone give to an animal when you know that they just don’t like it, or they don’t like say, cats or dogs at all, entirely, as a group, in general. Got the picture in your mind now? Yep. There it is. Hate that. So does the animal too for that matter. The second kind is a person who only half-heartedly hugs you and then gives you that pat-pat-pat on your back to indicate that they are all through all done with this portion of the physical contact. Euww. Makes me sad just thinking about it.

People, we are craving some hugs! We need this for our survival! We need it for our maintenance! We need it for our growth! You can tell when someone just needs a hug. It is okay to oblige them you know. It will make you feel better as well. Hug them until you can feel their body relax and they sigh a good deep cleansing breath. It is the least you can do for your fellow man (or woman). It is something that takes so little and gives so much. Especially now. Especially right now. Even today.

As you walk around in these few last days of the old year and you see other people rushing about looking harried and frazzled and in need of ‘something’, stop a moment and ask yourself, “I wonder if that person needs a hug?”

If you think that the answer is “Yes”, you might be right. Far be it for me to suggest that you take it to the next level and actually do something about this, but perhaps you might find that if you turned the same question about needing a hug inward, and asked it of yourself, you might realize that the answer is “Yes” as well. Don’t be alarmed. Don’t be ashamed. Hugs. They’re a good thing.

Love.

Amy

Cider Monday

2010-12-09T10:58:00.000-08:00

I hear things funnier than people say them. That’s my story and I’m sticking to it. In any case, it makes my life interesting and joyful, and I walk around giggling a lot. Come on, let’s face it. Giggling is a whole lot better than to keep on saying, “Huh?” “What?” “Excuse me?” Or even, “Would you mind repeating that for me, please?” Its definitely better than actually admitting defeat and age and finding out about , argh(!) hearing aids.

Sometimes I can go blithely on along my way not even considering that I’ve made a drastic aural error. Kind of like that famous Jimi Hendrix song “Purple Haze” with that incredible hook line, “ ‘Scuse me while I kiss this guy”. I really love me some Jimi. Oh yes, and my favorite from Deep Purple, “Small Cousin Walter”. Don’t bother trying to look that one up in any song catalog. It won’t be there. It will drive you insane, but then you’ll figure it out.

Sometimes I realize that I have heard wrong, but it sounds sort of right, just that its kind of off somehow, and I need to think it through a little more. Like the weekend after Thanksgiving when I heard someone talking about “Cider Monday”. Cider Monday! Jeepers! That sure sounded great! Funny that I hadn’t ever heard of it before. Nippy weather. Non-denominational. Absolutely seasonal. Great gathering tool. Apples have already been harvested and now the cider is ready. Cider is good cold, hot, mulled, hard. Basically, Cider is just good. I love this idea! I wondered how folks celebrated. I googled it. Guess what. There is no such thing. I mis-heard. It wasn’t Cider Monday at all.

It was “Cyber Monday”. But you knew that all along, didn’t you? I still say that Cider Monday seems like really really cool idea. I think we should take it and run with it.

Love.

Amy

The Goblins’ll Get You if You Don’t Swatch Out

2010-12-02T13:04:00.000-08:00

A swatch is a small section of knitting done before the big project of knitting gets done in the style in the yarn in the same kind of stitches as ‘the big project’. That being said, most of the time ‘swatching’ seems like a big waste of time. It isn’t! It makes good common sense. Also, if creatively knitting allows you to use your right brain, we might as well even things out all around and fire up that left brain with some mathematical swatch work. Ultimately, your swatch can be your touchstone in your knitting, allowing you to create whatever you wish from any basic pattern you have on hand, with whatever yarns you happen to have lying around. You can figure it all out once you know why swatching, and why accurate swatching, is important. It’s all in the math.

I always hated math. Thought it was one of those things that I’d never really use much. No sense going on to those pesky upper level courses. Here I am years later making sweaters. Seems simple enough. Yet every single thing I do requires, dare I say it? MATH. How many rows per inch. How many stitches in an inch. Markers. Gauge. Tension. Yes indeedy. There’s tension in them thar yarns!

You can fool yourself into thinking that you have already knit with the same yarn and you are used to it. Or that you are a free thinker. You like to work without a net. You can fix it in the mix. You always knit the same exact way. Perhaps you know someone in every size and age range who is just dying for anything that rolls off your needles. You’ll need to. Diving into knitting unprepared is what makes the knitting fairies giggle, “Tink, tink, tink” in their high pitched voices that sound so much like errant knitting needles clicking. (For those of you who are not in on this bit of knitting humor, “tink” is a knitting term. It is “knit” spelled backwards, and it means to “unknit”.)

So, here is what I suggest to you. Please do first knit at least a six inch by six inch swatch of any yarn that you are thinking of knitting, in a tension, or with a pair of needles that gives you the correct sort of ‘fabric’ you wish to create. Stretch it this way and that. Then leave it alone for a whole day. Go away from it. Do something else. Fun or not. That part is up to you. When you come back to your swatch take time to actually count how many stitches there really are in four inches across one row. Divide it accurately. Write it down. Accurately. To the fraction. Count how many rows there are in four inches. Divide it accurately. Write it down. Accurately. To the fraction. Use these figures to determine how big or how small your project will really be. Don’t just ‘round up’ or ‘round down’. I’ll go into what happens when you throw caution to the wind and do that sort of thing next time. But until then, believe me. For your own sanity or you’ll be hearing “tink, tink, tink” over and over and over in your head like that song that you overheard someone else whistling…

Love.

Amy

Wild Turkeys on the Loose!

2010-11-24T12:52:00.000-08:00

So I was driving home from downtown this morning and what should I see by the side of the road? A giggle of 5 big old male wild turkeys trying to hitch a ride out to Trumansburg, or even further. Their sign didn’t make much sense to me, looked pretty much like chicken scratch, unless writing this is politically incorrect. I know that they were males because of their coloring and size and because each of them had all of that ucky red ground beef looking stuff all around their necks. I looked it all up on Wikipedia, I know the right words to call all of those things, I just don’t really want to.

They looked pretty determined to get out of town and since the back seats in my Element were up anyway on account of my Briards, and all that I had back there was a bunch of old Desperado albums, I figured ‘What the Heck’ , they didn’t look too scary, so I picked them up. I asked where they were coming from and they all said at once, ”The Chanticleer”. At that point I realized I had the makings of a tale on my hands. And once they told me that they would trade stories for miles, I knew that I was in for the ride of my life….

I guess I’ll have to write from the road because I’ll be with the Wild Turkeys on the Loose!

Happy Thanksgiving!

Love.

Amy

Pin your Heart on your sleeve and then stand in a crowded elevator...

2010-11-18T07:19:00.000-08:00

I hate filling in application forms. Or forms where I have to write in what are my hobbies. Or my spare time fun things to do. That’s what I do for my job. Well, mostly. I guess that once I realized that I was going to do my best at whatever was placed in front of me, I also realized I had better be doing things that made a difference to me. So that’s kind of what I’ve done with each career I have chosen for myself. I don’t have a retirement fund, but each day is still a great challenge. And as Mark Twain said, “I am an old man and have known a great many troubles, but most of them never happened.” I am not an old man, but you get the idea. Then again he also said, “Buy land. They’re not making any more of it”. All good things.

It strikes me as odd sometimes that my hobbies are exactly what the work I do is. That I do for a living what others would find to be fun to do in their spare time. I make things. I make things up. It is not always fun, but I am doing what I like to do.

It is kind of nutty to consider that in the dead of winter I need to think about light and thin summer wardrobes. And that when the thermometer says that it’s a scorcher outside, my knitters are working on the heaviest fuzzies of the year. But that’s the fashion biz. It’s in one year and out the next.

Right now I am trying to finish work on the last of some new hot summer pieces and also some teasers for next fall. Huh? I don’t even know what I want to wear for Thanksgiving and that’s next Thursday. Hmmm. Better think quick.

Luckily, the best thing about being a designer is that nobody except my mommy questions what I choose to wear. Inside out or back to front, too tight or too loose, it’s always smooth sailing. And that’s the way I like it. Uh huh uh huh, I like it. A tiny piece of advice from me to you? Whatever you choose is just fine too!

Love.

Amy

P.S. I thought of a good response to say when someone says ,”I love you” to you and you want to return the favor with a reply. Say to them, “I love you more.”

**image by Dominick Santise

A Pinch of This

2010-11-11T07:26:00.000-08:00

As the holidays approach, I am reminded of all of the different sayings we use to announce good wishes and bountiful blessings, or rather, that we used to use, for now, for the most part, we say and we write “Season’s Greetings”. I’m not sure how I feel about this, much in the same way as I am not sure how I feel about the term “Seasonless Dressing”, even though I intend to use this very term myself in advertising my very own line of goods.

“Seasonless Dressing” is now a huge buzzword in the fashion world. Everything begins to be rolled into one. I say, we need more opportunities for celebrations, not less.

Right here and now and for the record, I wish to tell you that I want seasoning! A pinch of this and a pinch of that! Sometimes, I must confess, I like my jokes a bit salty. I like to watch the snow fall on a Christmas Eve! (And then I want it gone, but still I want the thrill of the chill.) I want to strip down to a tank top when the temperature soars; and I want to layer up and up and up with sweaters and wraps and scarves and gloves when the nights drop down into single digits.

I want savory and I want sweet. I want seasons and I want seasoning.

I want to capture every single holiday and welcome it and wallow in it. Especially my birthday (reminders will definitely be coming and often), but you have plenty of time to be thinking about the gifts with which you will shower me.

Nothing need be outrageous, but never let an opportunity pass you by to let someone know that you care. And always remember that charity begins at home. I for one seem to always know just exactly the perfect thing I was hoping someone would give me, so, um, why not let that someone be me? There are plenty of things right on this website I know I would love.

And oh, by the way, in case you have forgotten, today is Veterans Day. A perfect time to practice. Don’t let the opportunity pass you by.

Love.

Amy

I love you.

2010-11-04T07:21:00.000-07:00

Three very important words in the English Language. Maybe in a whole lot of languages around the globe, and what I am about to say will work for all languages as well.

We live at a fast pace and we think at a fast pace; perhaps faster every day. Speed doesn’t necessarily mean better. Sometimes it is a good thing, but sometimes I much prefer Mae West’s way of thinking, ”Whatever is worth doing, is worth doing slowly.”

I want you to do an experiment for me this week and see how it makes you feel. It has nothing to do with speed nor languor; it has to do with the unconscious ’Call and Response’ we have come to use for those three little very important words : I Love You.

I’ve noticed how sweet it is to say those words. I’ve noticed how sweet it is to hear those words. But generally, the response to someone saying “I love you”, is “I love you, too”. On the face of it, pretty nice. But, not really. That “too” is the backhanded “ditto”. It is said without real feeling behind it. “I love you, too” is merely something that is said because someone said “I love you” to you, or they said “I love you” first.

Maybe you meant to say it as well. But they said it first. “Too” doesn’t carry as much meaning, not by a long-shot. Maybe you don’t mean to say it at all, but they said it to you and you have to say something and so you say “……………..,too”. Bla, bla, bla, too.

If you don’t mean “I love you”, don’t say it. Give the person a big hug, and be done with it.

If you do love that person, don’t be second-best. Don’t JUST say, “too.” Tell them how you really feel. Tell them, “I love you.” No ‘too’ ways about it.

That ‘too’ thing is a hard habit to break. But will you try it for a week and let me know how it makes you feel? I’ve found that it makes those three little words feel three miles high.

I love you.

Amy

What’s in a Name?

2010-10-28T12:09:00.000-07:00

Shakespeare was actually wrong for a change. He wrote damn purty, I’ll grant you that, and I quote that Bard as often as I can in ‘real’ life, but when naming yarns, let me tell you right now, a rose by any other name would definitely not smell as sweet.

There is a certain art to the naming of products. A ring of truth, a smidge of cleverness, a dollop of explanation – all are good attributes and components. But then there is that undefinable something that makes a name sing, makes it unforgettable, makes you stop and take another look.

Or else, there is something in the name that completely turns you off and turns you away, despite the fact that you might actually need, love, and adore this very particular item. I’ve seen this happen more often than not. And generally I use my own knitters as my testing ground for yarn names. Or, the spelling thereof.

Friend Peggy finds food names delicious and often suggests delectable savory concoctions of bliss for color names. Loved Mango Chutney; hated Smoked Salmon. Somehow, using a strong smelling food as a name for a yarn doesn’t do it for me, although I won’t count it out, and you just might see it come up sometime in a future yarn line up. But you get the picture.

I really struck out with Rattan. I thought it was a perfectly suitable name, but then my knitters began to either call it RAT-ten or just plain out ‘rotten’, as in, “Will you please send over some more of that rotten yarn?”. I meant for it to be called, Rat-TAN, but then, even that began to sound pretty bad to me, so I gave up and called it ‘Saffron’. Ah, a food name once again.

To head off anything untoward, I decided to go all phonetic on one of the line sheets, and called a perfectly lovely Carribbean Blue color ‘La Mair’. I wanted to name it ‘La Mer’, ya know, French for ‘the Sea’? But I had visions right from the get go about folks calling it lamer, that lamer yarn, and I couldn’t do it. In case you were wondering, no, I couldn’t name it ‘La Mare’ either, or else I would’ve had to start fielding questions about my odds in the Triple Crown.

But it hurt the worst to have to call my gorgeous spicy tweed ‘Besamay’. I simply couldn’t face hearing that word pronounced…’Be Same’. I don’t think that’s what Consuelo Velazquez had in mind when she penned that song. Or else, maybe she did. Be same, be same mucho.

(be a lotta the same).

Kiss me.

Love.

Amy

Sweater Weather

2010-10-21T09:51:00.000-07:00

I have always loved this term, the sound of these two words together simply spin their magic web of wonder. Sweater Weather! Such a good and positive concept. And how different from that oft-told and repeated joke about your mother telling you that she is chilly, so you had better put on a sweater, and preferably that weird and dorky one that your granny knit for you; you know the one I mean, that one with the bunnies on it and the sleeves that are way too long for you. You see, I have always loved anything handmade, and I gloried in rescuing that very dorky bunny sweater that you gladly donated to the first “Sally’s” in sight. I love bundling up. Well, I love bundling too, but let’s not go into that for now. I like to layer up my clothing until I feel good and toasty. I like to snuggle in under a big pile of nesting, comfy things, and just feel the cool on my face. Sweater Weather! Just the thought of it brings a smile to my face. I look out at the kaleidoscope crazy quilt landscape covering the hills and imagine capturing even just a tiny part of that beauty in a yarn or in a sweater. And now that we live in such a seasonless society, what fun! We can have the luxury of Sweater Weather all year long! You know how people say that it is always Happy Hour somewhere in the world? Well, I hereby declare that the same is true for Sweater Weather! We live with so many creature comforts that we manipulate our own environment at the flick of a switch; Night becomes Day; Summer becomes Winter. If it is hot outside, we make it cold inside, and vice versa. So, take a tip from me, sweaters are a good thing. You should always have one or two (or three or four) very very close at hand. As I see it from where I sit, from now on, it is always Smooth Sailing, and it is always Sweater Weather. And guess what, if you’ve got a shape, I’ve got a sweater that’s perfect just for you. And oh yeah, by the way, I’m a little chilly right now, and I think you should run run run and go put on a sweater….

Love.

Amy

P.S. The picture here is my mom, on her honeymoon in a sweater that she knit. As you can see, I still have that wonderful sweater!

Opening my Home to You

2010-10-14T08:09:00.000-07:00

Wow! What a rush! And oops, there I go, dating myself again. And oops oops, there there I go, double entendre-ing myself again. As in, “what a rush”- a phrase popular a few decades ago, for a good and pleasant feeling. And as in “dating myself” – what normally happens in the life of a single woman; she winds up dating, as in going out by herself. I could go on and talk about the oops oops and the there there, but I shall leave that to those people who knew me “when” and used to joke about what my name might have been.

The weekend could not have been more perfect. Crisp, sunny, beautiful. I have always looked upon Ithaca weather as contrary. Generally, whatever you plan for, Ithaca will throw you a curve ball. Let the pendulum swing! Ithaca is like the relationship that comes to you right after it has had the absolute worst relationship of its life; it has got to test you and push you to your limits to see if you will leave; to see if you will also be as bad as that last one. Ithaca is not for the faint of heart, no matter how many top ten lists she appears on. But then again, perhaps we who love her, just say that so that the population here only grows slowly. You know that Ezra saying, “I would found a university…..”? And his colleagues told him, “My goodness, Ezra! With a University like THAT, everyone will want to go to it!” And Ezra said, “AHA! You don’t know where I am going to build it….”

I could hardly believe the number of people who showed up this past weekend here at The Trees. It was unbelievably heartwarming and delightful for me to meet all of you. I saw folks that I haven’t seen for years and years, and I met so many new people. I was so thankful that the weather was great and that “littles and bigs” with flagging interest in sweaters could wander the grounds and the woods, while their shop-happy fashionista counterparts could play uninterrupted. I keep thinking that perhaps next time, if there is a next time, and I’ll get to that in a minute…. I might just have the “game” on the telly and some chips or something upstairs for the folks who need to get away from all of that shopping for a while and don’t want to walk around in all of that fresh air. It doesn’t have to be sports. You can let me know what might appeal; I’m open to it.

A Round Tuit. Or around to it.

I was asked a few times if I was thinking about doing this again. First of all, it will NOT go on this weekend. Sorry.

We didn’t want to take names or addresses at the Open House. But perhaps I’ll ask you now, at least those of you reading this here. If you would like to be on a mailing list about future events and such, send us a note through the website (www.totallybrill.com, or drop us a line at meg@totallybrill.com).

I got an incredibly great response to my yarns! It was the first time ever that they have appeared for sale to the public and I am so glad that you like them. I’ll be working on the marketing of those little babies. So thanks for your input. And thanks for coming. And thanks for supporting me. My heart bubbles over with delight.

Love.

Amy