Playing around...

with my Karen Ruane piece.

Look at this piece and admire the dedication that made me tackle two of my least favourite stitches - cross stitch and bullion knots.

I must admit that I love the look of the cross stitch hearts on silk, so much that I bought some more waste canvas.

And my bullion knots are better now that I know the right way to do them (milliner's needle, wrap clockwise). Not good, you understand, just better.

The more I do on this piece, the more I like it. I can see so many things that I could have done better, but I still like it. As there is a lot of stuff in it which I inherited from mum, I find myself thinking about my somewhat ambivalent relationship with her as I work on it, which is quite bittersweet, and adds to the process.

Working on it has reminded me how much I enjoy flitting from one process/stitch/patch to another - low boredom threshold! Only having a little bit of cross stitch or a few bullion knots makes them tolerable and doable. And, as Karen points out in her videos for the course, you can always add more. I like to kid myself that I have a 'less is more' aesthetic, but  sometimes nothing succeeds like excess. 

I think it may become a work in intermittent but continuous progress, as I make more blocks to add to this one. 

I have also been playing with my tiny Sandra Meech sketchbook. I have a collection of printouts from the Internet for ideas for sketchbooks, and I decided to work my way through them with no very clear idea of where I was going. It ended up being a very productive process, giving me lots of ideas for my piece for the NEC in March. 

Hence the scribble on the yellow spread. 

It is definitely going to be called 'Moving On' (maybe).

It is definitely going to be a small concertina book (maybe).

It is definitely going to have eight pages (maybe).

It is definitely going to include those arrows (maybe).

It is definitely going to involve patching and layering fabric (maybe).

It is definitely going to use the indigo fabrics I dyed with Tiggy Rawlings last year (maybe).

It is definitely going to be hand stitched (maybe).

That led to some explorations of ways to join fabric together - only with paper. They are mostly stitch, although I have to admit that a little glue was involved, purely as a temporary measure, you understand.

The second image is the reverse of one side of the first one, and I included it because I like the way the backs of the stitches seem to develop from the black marks on the left - a B&W print of the over-enlarged detail of foliage on the right of the top image. The foliage is in the apped photo of a truck at the top, except I ripped that bit off.

I trust I make myself clear?

More joinings. I vaguely remember doing something similar for City and Guilds, except that variations of faggotting were involved in that one, and mine, which was black and magenta, ended up looking like a section from a tart's corset. Which in turn reminds me of the Rocky Horror Picture Show, although I don't remember any magenta corsets in that, even on Magenta... 

And as I correct yet another nonsensical autocorrection, I must point out that any post which is even more gibberish-ish (yes, autocorrect, that is what I meant) than usual is all the fault of Paddy the iPad (maybe).

A bit of this…

i.e. college work – and a bit of that – i.e. a Christmas stocking.

A day late I got round to photographing T&T. Brown paper T is  soggy and beginning to show signs of wear around the edges – the result, I think, of this morning’s heavy rain – but the plastic bag T is also living up to expectations and looking good.

 

 

 

POT also got some attention – and in response to Karen's question about how I fasten it together, I took some step by step photos.

Step 1.

Collect tools and materials.  The secret weapon is my rouleaux turner, which has penetrated far more envelopes this last month than it ever turned rouleaux. [The tools also include Radio 3, but you’ll have to imagine that.]

Step 2.

Roll tubes

You can see the ends of the strings emerging from POT, ready to attach the new tubes. The ball of string is in waiting in case it is needed.

Step 3.

Insert rouleaux turner into tube. It is just long enough.

Step 4.

Snag one of the strings  emerging from the last tube into the hook of the RT.

Eagle eyed readers will have noticed that this is a different tube – I couldn’t get a decent photo of the blue one, which is slightly longer.

Step 5.

Remove the RT, bringing the string with it.

Step 6.

Insert the RT into the opposite end of the tube and snag the second piece of string emerging from the other end of the last tube. Pull through.

 

 

 

The tubes should look like this. [Those extra bits of string sticking out of the palest tube are the tail ends of a knot.]

Side view of snugged up tubes.

Step 7.

Repeat till you run out of envelopes. Or glue. Or string. Or patience.

Much quicker to do than describe.

If you are wondering about the preponderance of plain blue envelopes – we are in the process of moving our bank account to the Co-op, so we are getting a lot of letters, in duplicate, in their rather nice mid-blue or indigo lined security envelopes.

After all that, I tackled the Christmas stocking – which has required more unpicking, rearranging, resewing and at one point, chucking in the bin and starting again [only the back, fortunately – I cut it out upside down] than many more complex things. I have decided to hand quilt the front [only ‘big stitch’, in the ditch, nothing fancy] – and sitting down to do it has been wonderfully relaxing, especially compared with the previous stages. Good for the foot, too – I have realised how little sitting down I actually do when machine sewing!

The ultimate test…

of the 3 a day system was always going to be the day after an insomniac night.

Today was such a day – and the system worked. So often after a bad night I mope around feeling sorry for myself, and achieve nothing.

Not today.

1. Roll up some more tubes. √
2. Photoshopping X –but it is going to happen after I finish this.
3. Finish the Country Gardener √ 
   [It gets a red tick because it is so overdue.]
   Here’s the proof. I tried tying it up with some lovely red satin ribbon but it was too wide, so I ended up doing raised chain band in 4 strands of perle cotton.  I wanted the tubes to twist – and they do, as you can see – but unfortunately the red circle disappears as a result. Perhaps better if I’d painted it on both sides.

And I finished this - a cardigan for the very hungry caterpillar [VHC].

Made with the wool I indigo-dyed at Walford Mill. There wasn't quite enough so the sleeves are shorter than the pattern suggested – although they don’t look too short to me. The test will be in the wearing.

Yesterday was a 3 out of 3 day too – although I had included Mr Cheddar’s birthday bash in the list. The other items were the usual envelope rolling, and making my weekly record of progress on POT.

POT on the left, another work in progress on the right, looking remarkably similar. It is a sky scarf – 2 rows each day based on the colour of the sky at coffee time. I started the scarf in August and POT at the end of September, so the latter is growing quicker, and the weather seems to have been better wherever the envelopes have been… 

We enjoyed Mr C’s birthday at Popham Airfield, and so did Babybel – here with her other granny.

Thanks to Mr C. for the photos – hope he enjoyed it too.

Not sure about the VHC.

Funny how everyone who sees him with this expression on his face comments on his likeness to Wensleydale… 

Exciting ironing?

A contradiction in terms, you may think – but ironing my indigo pieces was definitely exciting.

First up – the plains and fancies – samples dyed without any shibori at the top, shibori’d or discharged at the bottom.

I’ve had trouble getting the colour of these images to look right – for example, the ‘grey’ piece [middle left] isn’t grey at all, but a slightly greenish blue, because the original colour of the silk was a yellow-cream.

 

 

The sample in the middle at the bottom is the discharged piece you last saw looking like this – bit of a change there.

the one above it to the right is also discharged, with Tiggy’s wooden stamps. It has come out better than I thought it would and is probably good enough to make a little bag for Babybel, which is what I’d planned. I’ve learned never to judge an indigo piece till it’s dry – the contrast is usually stronger than you think it’s going to be.

Cotton muslin tied with rubber bands at the top, habotai silk bound with string at the bottom – each about a metre square.

Both of these are saying ‘scarf’ to me. I think the silk one would make a great beach wrap – if I ever went to the beach with the intention of swimming.

 

 

 

This one was always going to be a scarf, after I’d seen Tiggy’s pole wrapped muslin, though mine is silk noil. I wish I’d given it a few extra dippings, but it’s still pretty.

 

 

I think I enjoy dyeing threads even more than I enjoy dyeing fabric – so I did some of those too.

The wool at the top was going to be a hat for me but it is such a beautiful baby blue [paler than it looks here - one dip only] that I think it will probably become a cardigan for Babyboy – don’t want him to be jealous if his big sister gets a bag…

Most of the threads were from a dyers pack from Texere – there’s cotton, linen, wool, rayon, viscose – and a couple that had lost their labels. The differences in colour are fascinating, given that they all went into the vat at more or less the same time.

And finally – the piece de resistance. [Sorry, couldn’t resist.{Sorry again}].

Again – it’s bluer than it looks here. It was experimental because the resist was tied buttons, which as they were wood – or possibly coconut shell – we thought would take the dye. They didn’t – instead some of the colour from the buttons transferred to the silk, giving a browny green blob in the centre of each circle. It’s a happy accident which I love. I think this is destined to be a wall hanging, perhaps quilted, with some stitch using those dyed threads.

Despite having officially given up quilting, I’m inspired by Tiggy’s sampler quilts to use the smaller pieces to make one – and, despite what I said yesterday, I have a purpose for most of the other fabric. I can still pet it though.

I will need a bit more dyed fabric for a quilt, but this afternoon Wensleydale braved the loft and found a long-unused beer brewing bucket, and its associated heater, which I hope still works. I’ve got a vat, got fabric [just a bit] just need the other ingredients. And some time, as all of this will, of course, have to be fitted in round a bit of degree work – back to college tomorrow to find out what this year has in store for us.

Dyeing in Dorset.

Despite the weather, and the traffic on the way home, A. and I had a great weekend. We went down to Walford Mill for a ‘Dyeing the Blues’ 2 day course with Tiggy Rawling – and had a wonderful time. Tiggy is an excellent teacher, and I would strongly recommend her courses if you want to learn about shibori and indigo dyeing.

On the first day – when we  had a bit of sunshine – some of us tried out dyeing with ferrous sulphate solution [bottom centre, clamped and overdyed with indigo].

Then we tried some shibori – which I have tried before with little success, though A. is expert at it. I was more successful this time – some samples bottom left. I think it helped using thicker thread and slightly heavier fabric, which made it easier to get a good resist.

Then we learned the care and feeding of indigo vats, and got down to the really exciting bit – standing with our hands in a murky, warm, blue green liquid, taking them out, putting them back etc. etc. etc.

Top left is a plain piece, dyed for later discharge [bottom right] with potassium permanganate paste. This was the least successful process for me – I either got too much of the paste, as you can see here, or too little, when I tried using some wooden stamps. I’ll show you what it looks like after discharge when it’s dry!

Top centre is some pole wrapped silk noil, unwrapped top right. I’m very pleased with this, which I think is just about long enough to make a scarf. [While we were dyeing on Saturday, one of the other visitors to the Mill came over and asked A. what the fabric was for. A., very quick wittedly, started talking about cushion covers. We got the feeling that ‘It‘s for stroking’ would not have been an acceptable answer – and A’s indigo dyed silk velvet was definitely for stroking.]

Overnight we all went home and did voluntary homework – some more stitched resist for me and this experimental piece, which I neglected to photograph before it met the indigo. Viscose wool felt, marbles and string. Hairy string, which in this case was not a good idea. The little beads were attached at Tiggy's suggestion so I could tell my dripping blue lumps from other people’s dripping blue lumps. Surprisingly, there seemed to be no doubt about who owned this one…

1. Post dyeing and machine felting bottom left
2. after I'd separated the hairy string from the hairy felt, and removed the marbles top left. A couple of the marbles had already made a bid to escape – hence the holes, which I love. It makes me think of bladderwrack.

On the second day – when it rained – we retreated upstairs at the Mill for more shibori-ing. I did a couple of traditional tie dye targets, an experimental button resisted piece – which got more experimental when I dropped a button and couldn’t find it again, so had to rethink the design - and made lots of hanks of thread and wool. We dyed again in the afternoon when the sun came out, and finished with the discharging I’ve already mentioned.

This afternoon I tackled this lot – rinsing, untying, and washing – show you more when they are dry.

 

 

 

Thoroughly exhausting but great fun – and lots of ideas to try with procion dyes as well as indigo.