Finter, Fiber, Frankstein
'Tis the season
For those of us in the wild concrete desert of Phoenix, the best time of year has finally arrived. Some may call it winter, but I prefer to call it finter - fall meets winter. We don’t really have the transitional seasons of fall and spring here, so fall and winter are really just one stretch of time over 3 precious months. Might as well call it one thing aka finter. Petitioning to make this word commonplace.
Finter means that temps drop below 70 degrees! Which means it’s sweater season! It’s COZY season! The holidays are upon us, and, it’s our reverse summer, where we want to enjoy as much of the weather as possible. It feels like a reward for getting through summer with your sanity intact and the collective mood of the city feels more active and inviting.
These past few months, since it’s been so damn hot, I’ve been doing sort of a reverse hibernation. True to form, it’s been me feverishly working on fiber and yarn projects like nobody’s business. My boyfriend consistently remarks on how quickly I’ve finished a project, but that’s only because I’ve been hyper-fixating on this kind of work. I go to sleep with my mind churning over the details, flashes of color and visual inspiration running through my head, and when I wake up it’s all I want to do. The sooner I get to work, the more time I spend on it, the faster I can bring it to life.
And I’m not just talking about knitting. I started my first effort at blending fiber and spinning my first custom yarn a few months ago. I learned to spin a year or so ago with the help of the fine folks over at Tempe Yarn, and I really enjoyed it. However, spinning wheels cost a lot of money and until I can procure one, I didn’t think much of it. A few months back I signed up for a blending class at the same place, where we used a drum carder and other tools to custom blend our own yarn. I was locked in after that. I purchased a drop spindle while I await the day I get a full on wheel, and I have been slowly chipping away at spinning all of the fiber I blended during the class. It’s taken at least 6 months since I haven’t been doing it consistently, but I’m nearly there and so excited to finish and ply it!
I’ve also been doing quite a bit of dye work the last few weeks. It’s mostly been to change up my wardrobe or refresh some of it, but it’s been another really fun area of experimentation that I’d like to spend more time doing. As with all of these things, it’s art meets science, but dyeing is so rooted in chemistry and color theory, it’s truly an art form. My first attempt at yarn dyeing didn’t go quite to plan (too much dye from the jump and my outcome was too dark), but I’m excited to keep going!
I took the day off a few weeks ago to go to the art library at the Phoenix Art Museum. I spent a few hours looking through a variety of books on fashion design, costume design, art movements, etc. I’m friendly with the librarian there, and he’s always down to give me the hookup to look at all the cool behind the scenes parts of the collection. He knows about my interests in costume and fashion design, and textiles in general, so I always trust his judgement when I tell him I’m coming by to look at ‘stuff’ and he pulls a massive stack of books that are exactly what I wanted.
Much to my delight, this visit came with a book I had not yet encountered by Valerie Steele—Gothic: Dark Glamour.
Its pages were filled with the history of the movement—as a literary genre, musical movement, fashion, and lifestyle—and how it has evolved over time. I immediately wrote down that I needed to purchase this, but also that there were several photos that I would like to have in my home. Peep one below.
There’s something so beautiful and primal about this that I had to make sure to write it down to look for it later. There were so many other beautiful images, too many to recount here, but I plan to get the book and you should too! We love an art book around here. You can also view/borrow it for free from the Internet Archive here.
Another book in the stack was Isabel Toledo: Fashion from the Inside Out. I had never heard of Isabel Toledo before (and much to my sadness, recently learned that she passed away only a few years ago), but I was immediately taken by the images I came across in the book. Such an interesting way of working with fabric and textiles, and I couldn’t look away. I hope to investigate more of her work in the coming months.
In the spirit of the dark glamour of the last month, I was finally able to watch the new Frankenstein, written and directed by Guillermo del Toro aka everyone’s favorite spooky chingón. I’ve been a big fan for years, ever since I watched The Devil’s Backbone as a kid (which my mom was so excited to watch with me; she and my tía love horror movies, and I grew up watching them with them). I was discussing this with a friend recently, how Latin American perspectives on death and the macabre shape del Toro’s work as a director and writer, and it has always just hit right for me. I remember growing up, hearing my family members talk about their experiences with the paranormal, their superstitions, my abuelita’s stories that her mom told her, and so on. It was always fun to me that despite them being somewhat dark cautionary tales, they were always told with a streak of mischief and a smirk, like I was listening to some spooky fairytale and should I encounter any of the scenarios like those in the stories, I should expect to feel fear of course, but also curiosity in equal measure.
I like to think that’s where the seeds of my inclination for horror, the Gothic and the macabre began. I’ve always been in love with the world, and I find the exploration of the darkest parts of the world, both the real and imagined, just as fascinating as the brightest and most hopeful parts. For example, I hate when I feel like shit, whether physically, emotionally, or mentally, but I also love that I can feel like shit. If that makes sense. And I relish in the good and wonder and whimsy of the world whenever possible, because it feels amazing to be able to have the chance to experience it. I’m just here, and happy to be here.
I watched the film on Sunday, watched it again on Monday, and I’m still thinking about it today on Thursday. I can say it was nothing short of a masterpiece in every way, and it was all of the things that I mentioned above. Painful, tender, heartbreaking, romantic, sad, beautiful. I cried several times. No spoilers here, but indulge yourself by watching this movie and trying to appreciate every single frame as a painting, the finesse and details of the costume design (by the one and only Kate Hawley, who also designed Crimson Peak and co-designed The Hobbit trilogy so no shocker there), and the tenderness and power of the writing. The acting is next level, Jacob Elordi really blew me away. I fell in love with Amphibian Man in The Shape of Water and wanted to escape to the depths together, and I would rewatch the ending of the Queen of the Damned on repeat as a teen, longing to spend eternity with my vampire companion. I saw The Creature and fell in love again, wanting to care for him and show him kindness, and my heart broke for him at his heartbreak, his losses, his longing for acceptance and being embraced. The Creature is all of us at one point or another, and del Toro’s monster films have a way of making those of us who may be a little different feel so very seen. It revived all my dramatic dark Romantic tendencies and now I just want to make bishop sleeved blouses with ruffle cuffs and dramatic high collars and tailored vests to wear on top and also capes and and and…
All this to say, it was magical, and sad, and beautiful, and I’ll be thinking about it for days to come, along with all of my fellow weirdos who are fawning over its every detail. Though I’m taking comfort in creating my own epilogue to the story where The Creature is living in 2025 and is a welcomed member of his local goth and metal community. I think he would fit right in and find his people (and maybe find a willing companion to become like him via some other scientific breakthrough??). A girl can dream and hope The Creature experiences love and companionship. Sigh.
Current Cast-Ons:
Shoujo Beret by Fran Lopez: I finally started this and while I have finished the hat portion, I still have to do the bow. I could wear the hat as is, but the whole point of this is the BOW; that’s what will bring it together. However, as it turns out pretty much all of my finter projects are knit flat. Not intentional, it’s just how it worked out, but it’s taking 100 years and I hate it.
Weasley Sweater x2: I’m making two of these, one for me and one for the boifu, so we can be matching for Christmas. Time allowing, I may make 2 for the cats as well because I am shameless.
The Krampus Sweater by Sofie Amalie Lauland. This was a last minute addition to my queue, but I woke up one day and thought I would like a holiday-themed/Christmas sweater. And then I thought of this one because of course. But then of course I waited until 6 weeks before Christmas. And I still have to finish the Weasley sweaters by then too. It’s fine. I’m fine…
Soft as a Spider’s Web sweater. I bought this pattern like a 2 years ago and it’s been waiting to be engaged. I tried the other vintage pattern for a summer tank top a few months back and that did not work out so well, but I recently finally cracked the code on how to apply gauge measurements and also adapt them and I’m like wow I was never going to get that right before. It looks like so many of these vintage patterns just can’t help but use the smallest damn needles and, you guessed it, they’re all worked flat. Sigh. I was hoping to have this done in time for Halloween, but at the rate I’m going, it may be ready just in time for Halloween 2026.
Currently Reading:
I have been rereading the Millennium Trilogy by Stieg Larsson because I missed it and have such an affinity for Lisbeth Salander and Mikael Blomqvist. There are very few books that I will read more than once, and these make the list. I’m almost through with The Girl Who Kicked the Hornet’s Nest, and I’m considering listening to one of the other installments in the series. I’ve been kind of a baby brat about reading anything not written by Larsson himself, but I don’t know, maybe I’ll give David Lagercrantz a chance?
Of course, all of my library holds, which have been active for months, decided to come in simultaneously. I’m trying to prioritize what to read based on length, so I can hopefully have time to get through them all.
Off With Her Head: Three Thousand Years of Demonizing Women in Power by Eleanor Herman. Of course this topic interested me. At first it sounded like any other gender studies type of book and I thought I might bail, but I let it go on just a bit longer and then I found that I couldn’t stop. Fascinating examples abound. I’m not even halfway through but definitely would like to see it through.
I’m Glad My Mom Died by Jennette McCurdy. I once saw this sticker that said I Don’t Need Therapy I Need to Fist Fight My Mother, and hardcore relate. Based on the book so far, Jennette would agree. At the top of the list since it is the shortest.
Witchcraft for Wayward Girls by Grady Hendrix. My booiiiiiiii. I love Grady Hendrix so much, I will read anything he writes. As soon as I finish his latest book, I start chanting ‘more more more’ and then sit on my hands and rock back and forth until the next one finally gets published.
Homicide in the Indian Hills by Erica Ruth Neubauer. I love a cute lil cozy mystery, especially ones that are set in decades like the 1920s or 30s. This one has not said explicitly its decade of choice, but based on some of the details I would guess it takes place in the late 1920s in India. It turns out this is part of a series by this author, the Jane Wunderly series, and this one is book 6 of 7, so I’ve got lots of fun stories to read if this one is as good as it seems so far.
I have a few more holds at the library for books on drug addiction in America, as I’ve had this idea for a project cooking in my brain for the last five years. Maybe nothing will come of it, but I wanted to do my reading first.
That’s it for now and until next time, I’ll just be howling at the moon.
Niawa,
Asa x
Thought you should know I read this right after setting down my copy of Frankenstein ⚡️
Loved this post! you're such an excellent writer :)