Floating

Today I find myself hovering -- floating -- between what was and what will be.

The Crafty Lady (Lacombe, Alberta) store front closed a week ago, and Tuesday through yesterday I helped the owner, Lori, her mom, and my colleague-of-several-years, (Helen) Anne, sort through, count and pack the inventory for removing it from the bricks-and-mortar and placing it in storage for two new ventures: an online shop -- and a shop-on-wheels that will be popping up all over central Alberta come spring.  (The former isn't very user-friendly just yet; the latter is under construction...but if I know anything about Lori, both will be up and running as soon as she can "git 'er done"!)

The focus of the shop will be yarncrafts (knitting and crocheting) but there is still some stock of stitching and embroidery etc. to be cleared...so do not despair!  It will be available for purchase online...until it's not.

Want to fondle yarn?  Sign up to get an e-mail to follow the store's blog...and/or "like and follow" the shop on Facebook.  That way you'll know when and where the mobile store will be available.

"So...are you retired?"

That's the question I got from some of our customers...and some of my friends, brows furrowed.  "Will you be okay?" (financially)  "What will you do?"

😂

Do?!

I've worked part-time one or two days a week at TCL for going on seven (!) years.  I will, indeed, miss it.  I've had to reconfigure my finances to replace the lost income.  I'm still processing the change in routine.

But...let's be clear, Gentle Readers.  I was a customer for several years before I worked there; this means I have a decades-long relationship with dear Lori and her shop.  Working there, I got to have my brain stretched as I helped people pick yarn weights and colours suited to their chosen projects.  I taught customers about yarn weights, yarn composition (wool, other natural fibres, synthetics).  I taught some about embroidery options: fabric types, thread counts, etc.  I taught others how to knit (I don't crochet), how to turn a heel, how to make a heel flap on a sock; how to read their knitting so they'd be able to fix errors.  There was lots and lots and lots of instruction on yarn weights and yardage (meterage) and colour theory.

I used every tool in my tool-belt.

I will miss that.

BUT...I am first and foremost a textile artist.  And one of Lori's last gifts to me was this cutting table -- used in The Shop mainly as a surface on which to put patterns etc.  I have added it to the very worn table I've had for 15 years, currently in my studio, a table that has lost its function on one side (stripped bolts).  The photo -- taken from the door-way looking into my studio, the largest bedroom in my wee home -- shows the new table up front-and-centre.  It's a tight fit, but it works, and I have room to move around it.  I may just have to bite the bullet and invest in a larger cutting mat (mine is 18" x 24")...(and yes, that is a wool pressing mat on the left side, just beyond the iron.)

Thank you Lori!

I will admit...today I laid low.  After four days on my feet for 6 to 7 hours each day, bending, stretching, counting, packing...well!  I slept well last night...and had two (2!!) naps today.  And I have been very quiet on line.

Why so quiet?  After this week's events in the U.S., the involved-with-the-world part of me had to lie low and lick its wounds.  I have many friends and family there...and my heart is breaking for the systematic, calculated, seemingly-irreversible damage being done to a country that is MY country's closest neighbour and once-upon-a-time ally.  I don't often allow politics to infiltrate my "art space" in this forum...but there is at least one more "statement" piece in the works, Gentle Readers...so be fore-warned.

By the end of each of those very full four days at The Shop this week, I've been able to accomplish nothing.  Zip. Zero. Nada.

In the early mornings, I might get a few rows of sock knitting done, and at Lori's home on Thursday's Knit Night (where that will continue on an RSVP basis -- phone or e-mail or send a FB message) -- I managed to get to the decrease rounds on a hat.  I've no photo (yet) of the hat...but the sock...well...let's just say I'm now only 8 rows from finishing the leg chart on the first sock of the pair.  If I can get the entire sock finished by Feb. 14 1/2...I might just meet the Socks From Stash February 2020 challenge!

Pray for me, if you think it will help!  😉

And so...off I go for now...linking up to dear Nina Marie's Off the Wall Friday...and thinking ahead to a week wherein I won't be driving 43 km (about 25 miles) down the road to Lacombe for work at The Shop.

Tuesdays and Thursdays won't be quite the same...but there will be the work of my hands that I am called to do...and I will do it.

Have a great week, dear friends!

"May the favour of the Lord be upon us and our lands,

and establish for us all the work of our hands..."

-- Adapted from Psalm 90: 17

New Work

I continue to play with making marks -- and have added painting and needle-felting to the mix.  All in all the perfect combination for someone who is currently artistically unsettled, yet determined to accomplish something!  ;-)

First up...these small canvases, inspired by a pair of online videos that I purchased from my beloved City and Guild tutor, Linda Kemshall, and the programs she produces with her daughter Laura on DesignMattersTV: "Painterly Acrylic Landscapes" -- Parts I and II.

I've created four small (5" x 7") canvases...and attached to them bits that I've needle-felted on my Babylock embellisher.  It seems I've finally mastered this (no broken needles thus far!)...and I'm enjoying immensely the process of creating these small things using acrylic craft felt from The Shop, pieces of felted wool, roving, hand-dyed cheesecloth (YUM!), sari silk ribbon, and bits of roving from NORO 'Rainbow Rolls' (also available at The Shop).  Each is to be inserted into a floater frame; I'll be in Red Deer next week and  hope to find some there.  If not, I may have to mortgage the house to purchase them online... ;-)

In Green Pastures (C) 2017
5" x 7" - unframed

In Green Pastures - Detail

Canoes on Cranna Lake (C) 2017
5" x 7" - unframed

Canoes... - Detail

Dabbling...

Sometimes you think you've finished something, but it's not quite right...

Beside Still Waters (Before)

Something about this one fell into that category; the trees in the far background were too bright, so I went back in with some paint and...

Ahhh...that's a bit better...

Beside Still Waters (C) 2017 - unframed

Beside Still Waters - Detail

The fourth one is still Under Construction...as in...it's felted foreground isn't done yet...so you'll just have to stay tuned!

Meanwhile, I've quilted 'Wall'...and am preparing to apply a very narrow (1/4" or less) binding to it, preparatory to affixing it to a canvas.  I've trimmed it to 12" square...so...photos will be posted later.

And I've done some more mark-making...using a tree in my backyard and a couple of oil pastel 'crayons' I had kicking around.

Here are some samples of the Mountain Ash trunk (Rowan for my U.K. readers) 'subject':

And here are the samples/results in a red-brown and a dark grey:

I'm not quite sure what I'm going to do with these yet, except to know they invite stitch -- probably hand-stitch.  First, given the medium, they need to be 'cured' until later tomorrow afternoon or Wednesday.  Then I will heat set them (using a protective pressing sheet and a dry iron) and go from there.  I sourced the fabric from an online class in modern/improvisational quilting I took a few months ago. There was an awful piece...I cut it up and got all this wonderful white KONA cotton to work with.  The moral?  If you're willing to play, you can turn your "failures" into your next artistic "success"!  ;-)

P.S. for the knitters...I finally blocked this shawlette I finished a month ago.  It's a gift for a friend of mine...

Pattern: "California Skies" by Evelyn Uyemura
Yarn: Painted Desert by Knitting Fever - Colour #109
- Available at The Crafty Lady in Lacombe and elsewhere...

"California Skies" - Detail

Linking in to Nina Marie's Off the Wall Friday (at the last minute!)...and wishing you all a creative week!

Making Time for Knitting

I'm surrounded by yarn at least two days a week -- at The Shop where I work on Tuesdays and Thursdays, The Crafty Lady in Lacombe, AB.

And...I'm surrounded by yarn at home, as I have a fairly (ahem!) healthy stash.  :-)

Recently Lori, my employer, asked me to make up a sample for the shop in some new NORO yarn we're expecting.  The supplier had left us a skein of "Tennen" in a wonderful tweedy grey; I promptly looked the yarn up on Ravelry to see what folks have made of it.  Being a new yarn, there weren't a lot of examples, but I fell hard for the Snowy Winter Cowl -- a free download from designer Laura Reinbach.


This is usually knit in a more solid colour but it turned out just fine in the wool/mohair/silk, slightly thick-thin, slightly striped "Tennen"...







Then there are the "House Socks" inspired by -- you guessed it! -- Harry Potter.  My daughter, as I've mentioned before, is a die-hard fan, and requested a pair in Gryffindor colours.   I've been working on these on and off for a couple of months now.  The yarn (Diamond Yarn's "Footsie" in "Maroon" and Regia Yarn's "4-fatig" (4-ply) in yellow -- now discontinued) is quite fine and I was using 2.25 mm needles!

The pattern, designed by Alison Hansel, is found in her book Charmed Knits (Wily Books, May 2007) which, in addition to being available for purchase online, is found in our Regional Library.  When I began,  I was interested in only one pattern -- the socks with narrow stripes, per my daughter's request.  Just finished, they're now washed and will be wrapped and in the mail to her tomorrow...

However, the book contains more than sock patterns: sweaters, an owl "stuffie", at least one blanket...I might just have to get my hands on a copy before it goes out of print!

On the needles now?

• A pair of plain 2:2 ribbed socks from scrap yarn;
• A "Reverse Psychology" shawlette, designed by Mindy Ross, which I'm making for a friend, knit in "Cottage Socks", a hand-dyed yarn from Canada's own Fleece Artist yarns;
• Another pair of "Little Red Riding Slippers" (DROPS Designs) for my daughter to replace ones that came to a sad end at the hands of her washer and dryer... (!)  These ones are being made from Vintage Chunky by Berocco -- a machine-washable wool-and-synthetic blend in colour #6154 -- "Crimson", a yummy red; and
• An afghan square -- one of several in the "Knitterati Mystery Afghan Knit-Along" from Cascade Yarns.  I've decided that for now I'm making only the whole-knit squares (not Fair Isle or intarsia) as I am using a lovely 'aran' weight yarn in a blue green heather that has great stitch definition.  

Fleece Artist "Cottage Socks" yarn
Colour-way: "Sangria"

These projects are a combination of mindless and complex...and should be enough to keep me out of trouble when I'm not in the sewdio, eh?

The snow's stopped falling; the sun is out; the sky is blue; the walks have been shovelled...it's time for a nap!

Happy Sunday, everyone!

Re-engineering

'The best-laid schemes o' mice an' men gang aft agley."

-- Robert Burns, To a Mouse...

Ah yes.  

We put the Mark on the Body installation up on Wednesday a.m.

By Friday a.m., the main section -- "The Body" -- had fallen in a heap.

That was remedied right away by Maureen, my trusty contact at the City...thus...

But...it was too good to last.

This morning I awoke to an e-mail that told me she'd found the mobiles in a heap later that day.   Having had to lower them from the ceiling (where they were originally), she'd switched out the straight pins we'd used to secure them to the grids, with 'stick-on' Velcro (R).  Alas...the 'stick-on' didn't.  Stick, that is.

So...by 10 a.m. today I was on the road with my sewing machine (Miss Pfaff) and supplies.  Bless Christina, the Head Librarian at the Mary C. Moore Library -- located on the main floor of this venue.  She let me set up in the History Room, a room reserved for meetings and quiet study:

I tried to simply sew on the 'stick-on' stuff, but that gummed up the needle, so I trotted over to The Shop for some 'sew-on' Velcro (R), and a stitch ripper (I'd forgotten one)...just in case.

On the way back I picked up a sandwich and coffee at Kavaccino's as it was nearly lunch time.

By three-thirty p.m. or so, all of the 'stick-on' bits had been replaced by 'sew-on' bits, and the mobiles re-hung:

I know it looks the same.
It's supposed to!

Shortly thereafter I was back at The Shop to spend an hour or more knitting and winding down from the events of the day.  Miss Pfaff hadn't exactly been keen to sew the 'hooks' part of the Velcro (R), and had broken her thread every third or fourth one -- and there were 27 pair of these bits to attach! 

Blessedly, some rounds on the latest commissioned toque and a fresh coffee...and I was on my way -- but not without double-checking the venue.  Phew!  4:50 p.m. and all was still well.  I'll check again tomorrow after church...

Alas, doing all this meant I missed the SAQA Community Stitch Chat with Betty Busby and my planned long jog on the Alix Lake pathway.  The latter can be attempted on Monday if the good weather holds (and it's supposed to)...but the former? Those chats aren't recorded.  Ah well...I guess it's the mark of a working artist if one has to put one's installation ahead of one's recreation...  ;-)

And so to book and bed...but not before I link up with Nina Marie's Off the Wall Friday -- and wish you all a great rest of the weekend!

If you're in the area this week...Just sayin'...

Goin' to Philly! (with Knitting)

No, not me...but this little piece I finished earlier this afternoon:

January Surprise
6" x 8" (before mat)
Mono-print on organza, spatter-painted,
fused to commercial cotton, machine quilted.

It's not being sent on that mat -- I just placed it there because it's grey-white and it needed some sort of background for the photo!  I expect it will be put on a black mat by the good folks at SAQA, as it's going to be one of the pieces up for bid at the ICE (Inspire - Connect - Engage) Spotlight Auction fundraiser at the 2016 SAQA Conference in Philadelphia.

I called it "January Surprise" for a variety of reasons -- I made it in January (groan -- that's SO obvious!); it was half of a larger sample I made when I was playing with mono-printing over the New Year's weekend; I was surprised how much I enjoyed the process...and am thinking of doing more of it; and...well the impression of a wee red bird is supposed to be a cardinal...and if one sees a cardinal on the Canadian prairie -- farther west than Manitoba, that is -- it's a surprise indeed!

I have another piece of this mono-printed organza that will be made and matted (actually using that mat) and offered for sale at the Lacombe Art Show and Sale in April (God willing and my DD and I are accepted for a booth!)

Meanwhile, speaking of my DD...her birthday (as I know I've mentioned before) is this week...and while she won't get it on time, I have been diligently knitting on her gift.  She requested a skirt...in a tweed, please...and she found a pattern.  We had the Perfect Yarn in The Shop -- in the Perfect Colour -- so late last week I cast on, and here's where it is so far...

Pattern: "Carnaby"  by Nikol Lohr,
found in Knitty - Deep Fall Issue 2010
Yarn: Harrap Tweed from Sirdar 
in Colour #105 - "Horbury"

NOTE: This is the skirt on the needles.  The waist is on the left; the hem, on the right.  It will sit on the hips, and be buttoned down one side.  The panels are a simple "box stitch" (think: miniature checker-board); the gores are done with short rows which require some concentration but aren't difficult.  I'm lovin' it!

And though it might seem crazy, in the fine tradition of always having socks on the go, I've cast on again this month for a new challenge from the Ravelry group, "Socks from Stash".  It's an easy challenge: make a pair of socks using at least two colours of yarn from your stash.  I'm making a pair of "Ribbed Bigfoot Socks" from Robbin Koenig on Ravelry, which were originally designed for men, but which I've sized down.  The sock pattern is a simple "knit 3, purl 2" rib pretty much the entire time.  I'm using one colour (actually, a multi-colour) for the cuff (2"), heel and toe, and black for the rest.  Uses up yarn, fairly mindless process...may or may not be done by month-end.  No matter.  I'm enjoying myself!

All the news that's fit to print for today...off to do more quilt binding...and to watch a video about artist David Hockney via hoopla digital (free with my library card.  Aren't libraries wonderful?)...

A Day Late...

This week I missed posting to WIP Wednesday over at NTN because...well, I had WIPs on Wednesday but no time to post.

Did I mention I'm working at The Shop two days a week right now?  Have been since after Thanksgiving.  It's Prime Yarn-craft Weather and customers have been flocking to the store for yarn with which to knit and crochet gifts for Christmas and whatever other holidays they celebrate -- on top of newly-arrived babies and grand-babies, etc.

In quiet moments there I've been able to work on my own knitting...but there haven't been that many quiet moments!

The days are long -- I leave here around 8 a.m. (yes, it's still rather dark then) and don't get home till close to 7 p.m. (yes, it's dark again then)...which makes for a fulfilling but lo-o-ong day.  By the time I've sorted myself out and read/responded to correspondence and fed the cat (and sometimes, me)...it's time for bed!

To keep Wednesdays and Fridays from feeling like 'catch-up' days, I'm trying to spend more (structured) time in the studio.  By Wednesday evening this week, here's what was going on:

• First, a reprise of "Gone South" from this time last year.  Here it is with my "test mat".  I was checking to see if I'd stitched in enough wee branches.  I test my pieces several times while under construction; using the mat helps me see what needs to be added -- or not.  Another example of what was added in this case was some stitching across the bottom to give the impression of snow banks, even though in this piece the background is a very pale grey.

Having decided the branches looked right, I began to add tiny beads to represent the small "apples" that grow on this particular tree (it's in my back yard).  (Yes they are the same beads that are featured in "Winter Dinette".)

The shadow is caused by the position of the piece on my worktable (a keyboard shelf at my desk; I was watching a PBS program on computer while adding the beads).  :-)

Today I will finish adding the beads, trim the piece, put some stay-stitching around the edges and apply the mat.

• Then I hope to start the stitching on this piece -- another WIP from Wednesday:

"Tipsy - Autumn" - WIP

The piece is based on a photo from another corner of my favourite field:

Until earlier this week, there were hay bales all over that field.  (Don't be confused; the bale is not larger than the building!  That's just the angle at which I took that photo, which I was taking not so much for the building but for the colours of the trees and grasses.)

That said, the presence of the bales has given me an idea for some of the stitching on the 'field' in the foreground of the piece.  :-)

Being reminded of the quilting design was a lesson I re-learned Monday and again Wednesday as I watched my former tutor, Linda Kemshall, on an episode of DMTV entitled "Art as Inspiration".  I watched it three times, I think, as I prepared for my next 15 x 15 piece on the theme, "Roads".  As usual, I have several ideas buzzing around in my head.  The DMTV episode helped me by reminding me of the steps I learned in my C&G -- inspirational photos/research; sketchbook notes and perhaps a drawing or two to get the colours and impressions in mind...etc.

Adhering to that lightly structured process is very freeing, really, because it slows me down, requires me to really look at my sources of inspiration, focus on the colours, lines and forms that appeal to me, which I can then extract for my quilt design.  It has a calming effect, serving to "unscramble" the ideas and thoughts crowding my brain.

The sorting-out thus far is both in my sketchbook and on my wall...

Mapping "Roads"

And the process continues... 

I'm now linking to Nina Marie's Off the Wall Friday.  The plan: stitch those beads to "Gone South II" while I sip a fresh cuppa coffee and read what others are up to.

Looks like EB is using a section of her Abstract Art for Quilt-makers class with the current Master Class Students.  Why don't you visit too...and see what's going on?  Happy Friday, everyone!

Prepped and Coping

Over the last day or two, our weather has cooled and we've had much needed rain.  Today's morning showers, swirling grey clouds and stiff breezes makes it look like Mother Nature is practicing for September, a mere 10 days away.

With cooler weather and the sense that autumn's creeping in comes a renewed Sense of Purpose and a determination to Get Things Done that I welcome after a summer of strained emotions coupled with uncertainty about Where I Go From Here.

Yesterday was mostly about prep:

The garden-fresh beans my sis gave me on Sunday were prepped for blanching and freezing:

I prepped my luncheon omelette:

And I prepped my materials for another series of miniatures at the request of one of "my" galleries -- Different Strokes in Olds -- which re-opens in September after a summer of renovations and roadwork:

Foundations prepped

Sketchbook, inspirational photos, fabrics...

I prepped my "10 x 10: The Unknown Artist" silent auction piece -- now it's ready to hang at the Preview which is Wednesday evening, September 24, at the Lacombe Memorial Centre:

Special thanks to Susan Lenz who is a framer as well as a textile artist, and who gave great advice recently about this sort of hanging paraphernalia on the SAQA Yahoo Group.  :-)

I also did more work on the Japanese Taupe Quilt.  Not liking all the blank space of plain blocks, I auditioned strip-pieced-and-plain four-patches instead:

A. -  Five plain blocks in the centre -- see?

B. - Auditioning 4-patches -- see?

Today?  "Prep" became "WIPs" or "Almost Finished":

This mini is almost there -- but I ran out of the colour of thread I need to create some motion in the sky:

Mini #1 - "There's One in Every Crowd"

This one just needs stitching of the evergreen, and trimming:

Mini #2 - "Sailor's Delight" - WIP

And the Japanese Taupe Quilt is coming together -- because I'm coping!  I discovered my math on the 4-patches was a tad "out", so...instead of starting over, I added narrow coping strips to the blocks and will incorporate them thus:

JTQ - Pieced Section #1 - Rows 1 & 2 (of 5) on design wall

Tomorrow?  I work at the shop, so the studio will have to wait till Friday.  Meanwhile, I'm linking up to WIP Wednesday on The Needle and Thread Network -- let's see what others are up to, shall we?  :-)

P.S.  

• Finished this as a shop sample -- the Bollard Shrug from Berroco, in Weekend Chunky yarn:

Bollard Shrug - Self Portrait!

• SAQA colleague and cyber-friend Susan Lenz (she of the hanging apparatus tutorial) was in Portland, OR, this past weekend for the "Quilt! Knit! Stitch!" show, and saw my piece in the "Coming Up Roses" exhibit.  She had her husband, Steve, photograph her with my piece...see below (used with permission).  I'm thrilled to bits!

So lovely when someone known to you actually recognizes your work!

Look Ma -- I'm Swatching!

I have several projects on the go right now, including knitting.  We've apparently had all the hot weather we're going to get this summer -- a few days very early in July, when we experienced 28 C - 32 C -- and the past week has been mainly cool, with roving clouds and periodic thunder showers: perfect weather for the studio -- and for yarn!

Glitzy Ruffle Scarf

"Niven" Shawlette Nora Gaugahn Vol 13

As a result I finished the "Niven" shawlette in Berroco Lustra, a shop sample for The Crafty Lady in Lacombe, where (in case I forgot to mention it) I'm currently working 1 day a week (photo of my version to follow once it's on the shop model).  Then I finished a ruffle scarf in Red Heart Yarn's Boutique Sashay Metallic.  I may offer this one to Lori as a sample too; although it's one of  'my' colours, it's not really my style.  I did it so I could say I'd done one, and as practice in case my daughter's still interested in having one.  The process is simple enough but very slow for someone accustomed to 'throwing' her yarn over her right forefinger and simply breezing along a mile a minute.  Yarn-play, yes.  Knitting?  Not so much!

"Merle" Cardigan

The Berroco Booklet that contains the pattern for "Niven", Nora Gaughan Volume 13, has a number of pieces I'd like to make.  While I bought the Lustra for the shawlette at the shop (the hot pink colour-way I selected has been discontinued and was thus on special), I want to use stash yarn for the next project: the "Merle" cardigan.    Mmmmmm...!!

Having misjudged my size (1" larger) and gauge (only off a teeny bit but...) so that "Niven" doesn't fit me particularly well (it sits on my shoulders but the width of my back means I can't comfortably fasten it in front), I thought I'd actually do a gauge swatch for this next project, it being made with stash yarn and therefore no longer available should I run short (yes, I got it that long ago).

Must be all this City & Guilds sampling stuff; I've made not one swatch, but two. 

Don't faint.

First, I made one in Classic Elite's Skye Tweed.

Colour #1203

I liked it well enough to do 23 rows of the collar pattern (this booklet's patterns are all top down and like Niven, this one begins with the collar)...but the fabric created by those rows felt a bit stiff and heavy, so I decided to try my next stash selection:  Jo Sharp's Silkroad DK Tweed.

Colour #401 - Celestine

Here's how the swatches compare with the required gauge/tension for the pattern:

• Required:  18 stitches and 25 rows to 4" in stockinette with the larger of the two sets of needles (5.5 mm).
• Skye Tweed: 17 stitches and 23 rows to 4". 
• DK Tweed: 18 stitches and 24 rows to 4".

I've now cast on for the collar (again) on a second set of 5.5 mm needles and will compare the two fabrics when I get the first 23 rows done.

By WIP Wednesday, I'll have a fresh report on from the quilting studio.  See you then!