Friday, September 30, 2011

Yellow Feather Yarn

Yarn spun with Yellow Easter Grass and
Yellow Feathers from a Boa.
The wool is various pieces carded together
 with the Easter Grass and a little sparkle.
The Sparkle is for my Granddaughter Casey.
The Easter Grass is for my daughter Bonnie.

September Highlights


Posted by Picasa

Thursday, September 29, 2011

Tessie and the Greenie Part 2

I can't believe it,
she ate the whole thing!

Monoprinting

I woke up this morning wanting to do some printing, specifically, monoprinting. I had some sad news this morning, I have to go to a care meeting about my Mom this afternoon and my dog Tessie had a brief seizure early this morning. Two stressful things before I had my first cup of coffee and another to come this afternoon. I think I just wanted to do something that would take my total concentration. So I made a big mess (you should see my hands!) and printed on the back of pieces of old sheet (I like the grid effect don't you?)as well as on some paper. Some of the prints are worthless of course, but there are enough that look like they might have possibilities.










Last night, I finally finished my knitted Market Bag. I just had the strap to do, so I should have been finished a week or so ago. But, it is finished now and I can make another as I bought more of that Linen and Jeans yarn last time I went to the yarn shop.


Wednesday, September 28, 2011

Tessie and the Greenie

Here is my Jack Russell, Tessie, with a Greenie.
This is one that my friend Mindy gave her at least a year ago.
She wasn't interested in it then, so I sealed it in a plastic bag and put it away.
I came across it yesterday, and gave it to her.
She is in love.
The Greenie goes where she goes.
It travels from room to room.
She brings it to show to anyone who comes over.
It even went outside with her and remained in her mouth while she had a little

 P

Tuesday, September 27, 2011

The 2011 Sketchbook Project

Here is a preview
of the cover and a few pages from the sketchbook
I am working on for the 2011 Sketchbook Project.
 I have finished my pages,
 I just have to bind them back into a cover.
 I am pleased to be finished so early
and I had a lot of fun with this book.
More then last year.
My theme is Stitches and Folds.

Saturday, September 24, 2011

On The Table

These projects are on my table this weekend.

The on-going knitted collage,
(who knows what this will be)
Things I bought at the thrift store to spin,
(Thanks for the idea Bonnie, but the Easter grass doesn't want to spin)
A hand stitched piece that needs pliers to pull the needle through the fabric,
(remind me never, ever to dye fabric that I can't stitch through with a needle and thread)
A piece ready for hand stitching, but I think I need to machine embroider it instead
and, finally
The Sketch Book Project pages with "under-painting".

I was moving right along on the Sketch Book pages, but then I went to the care facility to see Mom and she and her roommate cornered me in front of the closet and bombarded me with questions that made no sense. And Mom wanted me to take her home because she was done visiting with Patty and she couldn't just stay there in Patty's room. Well, it is Mom's room too but apparently neither one of them remembers that! Patty didn't want me to put Mom's clean clothes in the closet because I needed to take them home when I took Mom. Mom thought she had just returned from Church and Patty thought she was going to the ranch. Mom wanted to know where I had parked her car. Yesterday, Mom told me she had been to Dallas for a visit. It was a "mad" scene reminding me of the Abbot and Costello kit "Who's on first". I felt like I was being attacked by a pair of Blue Jays. Steve and I finally escaped but when I got home, I had to unplug the phones. 12 calls and 12 messages to come and pick her up as she couldn't find her car and she needed to get home.

I will have to chill out for a bit with a large bowl of ice cream before I get back to the pages.....

Wednesday, September 21, 2011

Challenge

It turns out that I like challenges. Recently I did a spinning challenge using black and white. Perhaps you remember that post. I spun some tissue paper and some recycled silk. The invitation to another spinning challenge came yesterday, and is to spin something other then fiber--Anti-yarn. Goody. What to do. I remembered I had bought at the thrift store, a couple of packages of this sisal type stuff thinking I  could mix it with something else and spin it. But it was a very unpleasant material, stiff and prickly, so I put it away and forgot about it. Now however, I should try it. What a mess. I would pick up small handfuls of it and "draft" it. Occasionally, I just had to cut into it to allow it to pull out. Every inch, the strands would lock onto the hooks and I would have to release it, but eventually I spun it all, both packages. I would like to say that I remained calm through the process, but that is not true. I few unpleasant words were spoken. I admit it. So then I had a ball of this stuff that just looked like hairy rope. Not too interesting really. I started looking around for something to ply with it--something that was not already fiber. I finally settled on a couple of Handi-Wipes, torn into strips. Here is the result:  




 Of course when plying it I had to essentially spin it again
and so it caught on the hooks every inch or so
AGAIN,
more unpleasant words fell from my lips
@#&^&#
and so forth.
 But, it is sort of interesting.
I decided to make a basket.
 And here it is!
 The bottom of it fits in the palm of my open hand
  hand.
Too much fun.
                                              

What Next?

Tuesday, September 20, 2011

Flight

Flight
7x8


Here is another good reason to photograph your work. I had put this piece away with the finished work, when I remembered that I hadn't photographed it yet. It looked nice, so I thought I would "blog" it. Surprise, surprise. It is not finished! I did not complete the stitching on the upper right hand corner. Oops....................Back to the needle and thread.

Flight is an embroidered monoprint on hand dyed cotton.

FEATHERS

Posted by Picasa

Wednesday, September 14, 2011

Black and White Challenge

Here are the Black and White "yarns" I spun today for the challenge with the Fiber Artists and Spinners on Facebook. Really, they are black and white. The photo turned out blue and so I changed it to black and white in Picassa only I forgot to save it, so here it is in BLUE!

The piece on the left is black and white tissue paper, spun, and then core spun with a commercial black single. I haven't measured the yardage yet.

In the middle, I have 15 yards of recycled silk fabric, spun, and then plied with the same paper yarn.

And finally, on the right is six yards of the paper yarn spun with some black and white silky thread, hand knotted and then waxed.

A whole package of tissue paper will make a lot of paper yarn. I filled one bobbin and still have some strips left over.

Untangled


Untangled?
Well, you could say that. Getting close anyway.
I bought this pearl cotton at the thrift store.
It was all wadded up in a zip-lock bag. It was a nice antique tan color.
Yesterday, I found I needed some lavender thread for an on going project.
I didn't want to go out to the store, so I pulled out this thread,
dyed it with purple Kool-Aid (yes, I used grape but got rose) and then I had to unravel it.
Of course I didn't have to (I heard you) but there is something about
a mass of threads that just begs me to do something about it.
It reminds me of my story about my Dad which is posted on this blog somewhere--the story about how he pulled the wad of threads out of his pocket and said,
"These would be good for fishing."
you probably remember me writing about that.
 But I am getting distracted.
Literally and figuratively.
 I need to get back to winding up these balls of thread.
I am thinking that the part of my brain that wants me to untangle these threads,
is the same part that wants me to tear everything up and put it back together
 before I am happy with it.
Neurotic?
 I heard you have to be neurotic to be an artist.
I never believed that but maybe it is true?
 I want to unravel the sweater and put it back together in a different way,
or cut up the embroidery and rearrange it.
But I am too impatient to figure out why I want to do this.
It will come to me one day or it won't.
It doesn't really make any difference.
Posted by Picasa

Sunday, September 11, 2011

Two Socks But Not A Pair

OK I told you I would be making socks again. My new book, New Pathways in Sock Knitting by Cat Bordhi, inspired me. I always like to learn different techniques. I had just finished the turquoise sock which I love because it is so bright and fun, but it was too late to try any of the techniques from the book. I tried them with the raspberry yarn I bought last week at Tuesday morning for $6. Too cool for school. I bought some in blue also but unfortunately (or maybe fortunately) most of it was gone by the time I found it! I think this raspberry sock is just a tad big, but not so big that I can't wear it. Now I am knitting the other one. I guess it would be too weird to make it smaller. It was fun making the spiral on the pink sock and I added my own thing to the back of the ankle--a ribbed cable about 2" long. I should have started it sooner and therefore lower so it would cushion the back of the heel. Maybe next time. You can't see it in this picture. And by the way, both of these socks have been knit toe up.

I am planning to work on some other projects, but I am obsessed with knitting socks. Maybe it is the weather although our week of cool weather is giving way to more hot weather next week. At least the nights are delightfully cool. Still no rain.........
Posted by Picasa

Wednesday, September 7, 2011

Tiny Stitches

I have been trying to finish up some work. Most of it involves millions of tiny stitches.
I stuck my fingers so many times with the needle yesterday that I had to
 stop
and apply three bandages.
I decided to knit for a while on my Market Basket.
A little easier on the hands.
This morning, I drove over to Comfort to the good yarn store, The Tinsmith's Wife,
just to get a pair of 10.5, 24 inch needles. Good ones you know. Not just ordinary ones. Ha
I tried not to buy any yarn. Really I did, but I do want to make another of these
Market Baskets
(pattern on Ravelry)
in another color of this linen and rayon. So I bought some more. Of course we won't mention the new book I bought which happens to be about socks, so now I am all jazzed up about making more
socks.
I also won't talk about how much I missed shopping at the yarn store with my daughter Bonnie. When she is visiting, we always have a great time there and Robin K. plays with the cats. So if you don't mind, I won't mention it because it makes me sad!

Meanwhile, I hardly have time to make anything because I am busy pinning projects up on the new design wall. I would send a picture of that, but I am at home this afternoon instead of at the studio. Maybe tomorrow.

Thursday, September 1, 2011

Design Wall

My new design wall in my new studio. I need to finish stretching the fabric over it, but it is going to work. It is a layer of 1" foam stapled to a sheet of plywood, then  covered with quilt batting and finally, a damask tablecloth. 
Posted by Picasa

Re Header

Enough of the beach. It is September. Let's take a ride.

Can you see this picture? I have my doubts......................