some thoughts on selfies and self portraits
People have been turning the camera on themselves since the 1800s (Robert Cornelius took possibly the first photographic self-portrait in 1838).
And before that, there were self portraits made of charcoal and oil paints.
Selfies and self portraits certainly aren’t new.
I don’t know what the definitive difference between the two is.
(I don’t think anyone knows.)
And there’s certainly a lot of middle ground between, a selfie taken in the bathroom mirror, and a self portrait of/by Frida Kahlo.
But here are some off-the-cuff thoughts from someone who is
a) terrified to cameras & having her picture taken,
b) has taken a picture of herself every day for 45 days and plans to continue for another 320 days,
and c) still can’t decide if she’s taking selfies or self portraits.
Thought 1: A selfie says “look at me, look at what I’m doing/where I am/who I’m with.” A self portrait says “this is who I am.”
Thought 2: A selfie is a picture designed for other people to see. No one takes a selfie for themselves. A self portrait is you creating an image of yourself for yourself. The process of creating the image is part of the point.
Thought 3: A selfie tries to erase or minimize “flaws.” Some self portraits try to minimize or erase flaws, but some don’t, and some embrace them.
Thought 4: A selfie is disposable, it gains no depth from a second viewing. A self portrait (at least a good one) has layers that can be explored and uncovered, through multiple viewings.
Thought 5: You “take” selfies. You “create” self portraits.
But can a selfie become a self portrait?
And when is a self portrait really a selfie?
The Versio Sweater – a body, sleeves, and a change of plans
The weather is (finally) cooling down again here in New York, and it’s starting to feel like fall (again), so I took the opportunity to finish up the sleeves of my Versio sweater.
The pattern is Versio by Ankestrick (here on Ravelry.)
I’m using a 4 different lace weight yarns:
1 skein of Julie Asselin’s “Merletto” – the blue
1 skein of Sweet Georgia’s “Merino Silk Lace” – the red
1 skein of Fiberspates’ “Scrumptious” – the gold
2 skeins of Cascade’s “Forest Hills” – the black
Holding 2 strands of yarn together throughout the entire thing, and knitting it on a US 8 (5.0 mm) needle.
I’m also adding the hood modification that Rililie on Ravelry wrote up.
The pattern is knit top down, seamlessly, and using the contiguous set in sleeve method. I had never head of this method for creating set in sleeves – but I might have fallen a little bit in love.
The armscyes are a little bit deep on me, so it does some funky pulling/puckering under the arm, but not badly enough to make it unwearable.
The striping sequence has evolved a bit during the knitting process.
The original idea was to just use the blue, the gold and the red, working the stripe sequence you see on the yoke, for the entire sweater.
Turns out, I was going to run out of yarn really quickly if I did that – so I added the black, and planned on working the stripe sequence you see in the middle section of the sweater, for the entirety of it.
But I was still probably going to run out of yarn – so I switched to solid black for the bottom portions, and reintroduced the gold for the hems.
I’m a little ambivalent about the project right now.
I like it, but I originally wanted this sweater to fill the role of an easy to throw on – but not boring – works with jeans or a skirt, sweatshirt type sweater, in my self-made wardrobe, and that’s not what this is anymore.
Now, I’m seeing it as more of a sweater to wear with heels and dark wash jeans, still casual, but a piece that needs a little more effort to wear (and not end up being worn being worn by.)
I’ll see how I feel once I add the hood. But this sweater has definitely morphed into a sweater that is different than the one I originally planned.
a skirt, a shawl, a sweater, and a dress
Each Wednesday I post little snippets about the projects I’m working on.
You can see all of the Wednesday posts here.
I added another 10 rows or so to the lace shawl I’m knitting out of Julie Asseline’s beautiful “Merletto” lace weight yarn.
I got through the the striped section of the first sleeve on my Versio Sweater.
I was planning on working both sleeves simultaneously, by finishing a stripe on one sleeve, then working that same stripe on the second sleeve. But when it came down to it, I went the route that gave me fewer ends to weave in…
I’m working on a pleated skirt for The Self-Made Wardrobe Project. I absolutely adore the idea, but I’m hoping it doesn’t look too much like a tablecloth.
And I spent about 9 hours this weekend putting my latest jersey wrap dress through the rigors of train travel and it held up beautifully.
