"Startitis" or "Finishitis"?

The last few weeks it's been a bit of both!  Once I decided to just enjoy life, throwing productivity and predetermined purpose out the window, I've been having a jolly good time.

First, I decided I'd enroll in a beginner's rug hooking class during this year's Fibre Week at Olds College, and a week from tomorrow I'll head down the highway to do just that.

Next, I signed on to the Rookies group for the annual Ravelry "Tour de Fleece" and get back to spinning.  In preparation, I've been practicing almost every day, working away at a wool batt I was given some years ago.  I refer to it as my "Mystery Mauve" fibre because it looks like this:

It's mainly wool, I think, but there are strands of synthetic -- fine as hair -- in it, as well as a few 'neps' or bits that, if there were more of them, would make it tweedy.  It's great for a not-so-great spinner like me, because I can practice and it's not cost me anything for the materials.  It's definitely not precious!

I've really enjoyed the occasional cool morning, spinning out in the sunshine:

This all came about because a friend, having "rescued" two bags of roving from an estate, gave them to me!  They're very colourful batches, some of which was apparently milled at Custom Woollen Mills in Carstairs, according to a sales slip in with one of the packages.  I decided that if I were to be worthy of this new addition to my fibre stash, I'd best get some of the "old stuff" spun up!

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In my last post, re: my Cross Stitch Rabbit Hole, I reported on my "May-nia" progress.  I was working on each of 5 pieces, one at a time, for five days each.  By the end of the month, I'd had another finish -- "Take Whisks" from Hands On Design.  And...drum roll, please!...as of yesterday, I had it Fully Finished.  Ta DA!

Journal cover - front

Journal Cover - back

Journal cover outside, open flat

See? The journal fits!

I took the instructions from this great little YouTube video by Alanda Craft, which I found easier to follow than other instructions to date, and enjoyed every minute.  As you know, Gentle Readers, I dislike "fiddly" projects, which is why I don't make many pouches, bags, etc. -- but this is a finish I'll return to.  As for this particular item, I've got to get it into the mail today for a friend -- a keen baker of cakes and cookies -- whose birthday is approaching.

I also finished the Spanish reproduction sampler I was working on, from Birgit at The Wishing Thorn.  This photo isn't great because the piece is in pastel threads on white linen...but there it is.  The photos on the Wishing Thorn website are better!  I used the called-for DMC floss and (as I recall) a 32 count white linen -- 1 strand over 2, except for the commemoration at the bottom, and my signature, which are 1 strand over 1.  This sampler was made in memory of my late cousin, Margo Davison de Martinez, who died in 2022, aged 80.

At the end of my "May-nia" I returned to "Keziah Campbell 1796" designed by Needlemade Designs but purchased through Traditional Stitches in Calgary -- the package of pattern, fabric and flosses given to me by my friends Sha and Mary for my 70th birthday last fall.  I started it in the New Year, and it's been a bit slow-going, as it's on 40-count Vintage Sand Dune from Lakeside Linens.  This is my first attempt at 40-count and I must say, it's going better than expected.  

Having finished my 5x5 program in May, I thought for June I'd focus on a relatively new start -- "Barnabee's Quest, Part I" from Just Nan, which I'd had in stash for over a decade -- but no.  I returned to Keziah...and have fallen in love!  I finished the border at the end of May, shown horizontally just before the finish:

Since then, I've worked on it almost every day and here's where I am as of last evening:

The hand-dyed cotton for the red letters is 'Country Redwood' from Gentle Arts -- lucious!  The curliques around the alphabet letters are challenging but so worth the concentration!  Because this a Scottish-style sampler and not a reproduction, I am going to modify it to memorialize my immediate ancestors on my father's side.  Three brothers from the family came over to Quebec in the mid-eighteen-twenties and settled on farmland near the new community of Huntingdon, in the Chateauguay Valley.  There are farms out there that are still in the family, though my relation to the owners is very distant.  Anyway, I'm going to insert the initials for my grandfather, my grandmother and their children -- my father, my aunt and my uncle -- in the space for them underneath the wee row of crowns.  Stay tuned for progress!

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On the quilting front, there's a bit more progress, but with this heatwave, it's hot in my south-facing studio, and there's no room for a fan.  Still, I've managed to make 33 Butter Churn blocks, such that I've had to move them to the "design bed" in the guest room:

The quilt under the blocks is an old Bear's Paw quilt made for me by my late Aunt Alice Rennie -- one of the aforementioned relatives whose initials will be on the Scottish sampler.  The fabrics are, in large part, scraps I sent to her after making garments for me and my then-little daughter, back in the mid-to-late eighties.  It always makes me smile to see them in that quilt!

And yes...I've returned to some knitting!

When I was in Toronto, I took with me a pullover I was working on out of a bright synthetic -- the now-discontinued Sirdar "Silky Look" Double Knitting.  By the time I returned at the beginning of May, I was ready to start the bottom ribbing -- 4" deep -- and this is now finished:

Pattern: "Millie"
Designer: Nice and Knit
Yarn: Sirdar "Silky Look" DK in "Brights" colour-way

Since I took that photo -- at the end of May -- I've finished one sleeve and put a few rounds into the second.  

In the aforementioned stash of roving my friend gave me, was a 'plate' of long-discontinued "Chinook" single-ply yarn -- which appears to be a precursor to the now-popular Plotulopi, though it's not from Iceland; it's from Australia!  I've not done anything with it yet, but it inspired me to get back to a simple shawl I'm making with a similarly-fragile Noro "Rainbow Roll".  

I've not taken an up-dated photo, but it's the "Rainbow Roll Shawl" from Benjamin Matthews Designs, and I'm using a colourway in blues and browns, with some pale pinks and creams (#1015).  I have to knit with care, as it's easily broken, but I think it will be pretty and cozy in the end.

Picking up that project again motivated me to return to another knitting UFO -- a Mystery Stole that originated in 2006!

It's the Swan Lake Mystery Stole 3 designed by Melanie Gibbons, which I'm knitting in JaggerSpun Zephyr Wool-Silk 2/18 in "Vanilla" (off-white).  I'd managed to finish the main body of the shawl, leaving off at the point where I'd have to decide how I wished to continue -- with a mirror image of the first part, or with the 'wing' of the swan.  I've chosen the latter, and after a short consultation with the designer about the chart in question, I've begun in earnest.  I've told Melanie that she's been a great help and I promised her it wouldn't be another 15 years before I finished it -- so stay tuned!

Again, with the current heat wave, I've reserved my knitting and spinning for early in the day, and turn to stitching in the afternoons, in my living room, blinds drawn against the sun, and fans going.  The heat is supposed to break over the weekend -- thunderstorms very likely on Sunday -- and more rain may come later next week, which is a Very Good Thing, and the fires, while they've eased, continue to burn up north, in B.C. and in Eastern Canada, with smoke and haze impacting those of us who live to the south of them, including our friends in the Eastern US.

I'll leave you now, as usual, with a link to Nina-Marie's Off the Wall Friday.  This week, while I've been dusting off what's old, starting assorted finishes, she's been exploring what's new -- in a technique, in assorted gadgets, and in audio books.  

Whatever you're up to, from wherever you're reading, may you have some time to lose yourself in creativity.  A bientot!

A Little Bit Here, A Little Bit There

I don't often post two weeks in a row, but I've been thinking.  I do a lot of that (thinking, that is).  My mother used to tell me I did too much of it, and that it might cause problems for me as I got older.  She was right about that -- at least some of the time.  

The talking to myself (which is not to be confused with "self talk") has continued, as it gets me from one day to the next.  I've come to realize that some days are filled with "BIG" things -- a long list of errands requiring dressing up and going into town -- and others, not so much.

But this week it was the little things that made me happiest:

• Mailing those small socks off to a little boy in Ontario;
• Going for a walk -- or two -- almost every day;
• Pruning the dead "blossoms" off my budding lilacs so they can focus on the buds and not the old stuff;
• Starting up my new compost bin;
• Swapping the winter floor mats in my car for the summer ones, vacuuming out the car and polishing up the interior;
• Sweeping the dust, dirt, spilled bird seed and dead leaves from the garage floor --  much of which ended up as a layer in the new composter;
• Sweeping the cobwebs from around the inside of my rolling garage door, and oiling all the bits and bobs to make sure it runs smoothly;
• Adding another square or two (or three) each day to the slowly evolving mitred-square "something" that I've been making from left-over sock yarn;
• Putting together several rows of QAYG (Quilt As You Go) blocks; 
• Continuing to sift and sort through drawers, boxes, books, patterns; and
• A bit more stitching on "My To Do List"  ...

Here are some of the photos from the last few days, just to illustrate...

There's a short wooded path on the north end of town that's navigable now that the snow has gone; I love it's sunshine and shadows.  Here's one view:

And here's another:

I got a lovely piece of art fabric this week from cyber-friend, artist Susan Purney Mark; it might work for some of the trees in a piece inspired by these woods -- or if not, definitely for something in the future.  I am pondering another few art pieces but treading lightly, as my hopes for the Lacombe Art Show's actually happening at the end of May are very wobbly.  

COVID case numbers are rising here in Alberta (though not as badly as in highly-populated Ontario, and my heart goes out to friends there); there are a number of "COVIDiots" in my neighbourhood and a business that's been closed down continues to open its doors, even raising money for its court fight for the "right" and "freedom" to infect anyone at will by not obeying current protocols.  We have fewer than 500 people in this hamlet, and reportedly 2 employees of the business in question are out "sick" (no admission of what it might be)...so it's only a matter of time.  But I digress...

I am gratified that in the SAQA Spotlight Auction at this year's Conference (online now), my wee contribution has garnered some bids.  That warm's my heart.  Lest you don't remember it:

Spring Run-off (c) 2021
Whole cloth, thread painted, 6" x 8" before matting
Matted in white by SAQA

You can view all the auction pieces at the link above; bidding is open through April 25 -- when the various tables close at staggered intervals.  

NOTE: 

• Pieces are exhibited alphabetically by FIRST NAME of the artist (so you'll find mine in the "M" section; and
• All prices are in USD and shipping to US or Canadian addresses is $15 USD -- not sure if that's per piece, so check it out carefully!!

On a different topic, here's my new compost bin -- the second of two.  It's stationary, while the old one (more than a decade) is a rolling version.

On the knitting front, my mitred-square blanket is growing daily.  As of this writing, it's got 22 blocks and a 23rd under construction; here it is at  15-going-on-16  blocks:

Each block is about 2 1/2" square, and I figure I need 25 x 25 to get a lap blanket!

I've had two block-by-block 'QAYG' projects underway for months now.  I pick them up and put them down as the mood strikes, and I know I've posted about them before.  

The "Easy Breezy" block is from Bonnie Hunter -- her 'Leader/Ender Challenge' for 2020.  It runs from July to July.  I decided to make a small version as a tummy-time quilt, and to do it as-I-go.  Here's what it looked like on my design wall in early March.

And here's my progress to date:

Four of nine rows have been joined by sashing -- but (and yes, it's a good-sized but) I have yet to do the hand-stitching of the sashing on the back.  Yes, I know there are people who do both front and back by machine -- I'm not one of them!  I don't like the way it looks.  Sorry, eh? 😉

The second QAYG block-by-block is "Bali Sunrise" (also shown before) -- from a workshop I took in another life at the long-gone (and missed) Freckles Quilt Shoppe in Calgary.  It's a bit farther along than "Easy Breezy" due, in large part, to the fact that I have an elderly friend from church who I think might like it -- also lap-sized.  No, not the same friend who's received (and is thrilled with) the "Traffic Jam!" quilt.  There are just a goodly number of elderly people in my parish -- most of them women!  Anyway, I'd like to get it done in reasonable time so I can send it to her.  (It will be a surprise -- she doesn't own a computer so she won't even be able to guess.)

Here it is on the "design bed" thus far.  Two rows are completely together, with all hand-stitching done on the back as well (far left side).  Four more are joined by sashing and all of that hand-stitching is done, so the rows have to be assembled.  And three more rows need to be joined between the blocks etc.  You can see those on the right, with some of the strips cut for the sashing:

Each block is 6" square (without sashing) and there are 9 rows of 6 blocks each, and (so far) only an outer binding, not a border.  The sashing ends up at just shy of 1/2"...So the piece should measure in the neighbourhood of  40" x 60" (give or take) -- unless I make a QAYG border...we'll see!

In the "Long Forgotten UFO" category...this week, in my sifting, sorting, giving away and/or tossing practice, I came upon an unfinished little quilt top -- 30 1/2" x 40".  Another one of those "other lifetime" projects.  I do remember that it came from a magazine (haven't dug that out yet; it may be long gone), but I don't remember the name of either the publication or the pattern.   It didn't need much to finish it -- just to machine applique some of the 'leaf' shapes with a blanket stitch.  The spool of thread was even bundled in with it!  I decided to sit right down at the machine and 'git 'er done'.  

The kicker?  The shapes were pinned to the top!  What was I thinking?!  Pause.  FUSE!  Once they were fused in place, I tested out a few blanket stitch options (I was using a newer machine and didn't want to set up the old one to do this), and got them stitched down.  

I confess, I wasn't thrilled by the top.  I realized my colour choices, while decent, weren't stellar -- but clearly I'd gone into the project as an experiment and was using what I had to hand.  After time for it to "percolate", I decided it's "not bad" -- and will be turned into a tummy time blanket, with a prayer that it will be sturdy enough to last at least a little while!

Here's the top, in the sunshine on one of my garden benches:

 
If anyone knows this pattern, please let me know!

Pattern detail

Yeah, I know.  Not one of my best pieces...but in the immortal words of knitting guru, Elizabeth Zimmerman, "It will fit somebody!"  😉  In other words, some kiddo somewhere will lie on it, carry it about (like Linus from "Peanuts"), love it...and use it for a bed for their first pet.  And I don't care one whit!

As for "My To Do List"...this week's been challenged by the afore-mentioned COVIDiots...hence the phrase I've just finished as a reminder:

There's a bit of a floral motif that needs to go in that space on the right between "kindness" on the top and "control" on the bottom.  You'll have to wait till my next post (or two) to find out what that is.  

And so, my friends, I leave you to stitch, walk, knit, spin, quilt, piece, applique, read, write, ponder...whatever little bit here or there helps you in these fast-evolving times.  I'm linking up (late as usual!) to Nina Marie's "Off the Wall Friday", wherein just 'showing up' is enough.

P.S. The Psalm for Morning Prayer today was Psalm 90...in which the psalmist prays "May the favour of the Lord rest upon us; establish the work of our hands for us -- yes, establish the work of our hands."

May the "work of [your] hands" -- incorporating your heart, mind and soul -- flourish this week.  I hope to "see" you again soon.  From Steve Bell, a Canadian singer-songwriter...(please ignore advertising, with thanks...)

Managing More

I know...it's been almost 3 weeks since my last post, and over a month since I posted about what's happening in the sewdio.  Time to rectify that!

I'm still on a Finishing Frenzy -- trying to get Unfinished Objects done and dusted!  Most of these are knitting related, to whit:

This tiny cardigan got it's buttons and was put in the mail for a new baby cousin in SW Quebec.  It's a 12-month size, and he's just turned 5 months, so I hope he'll be able to wear it for more than five minutes!

Pattern: Little Coffee Bean Cardigan
Designer: Elizabeth Smith
Yarn: Schachenmayr Nomota 'Bravo'
-  colour #8182 (marl) - discontinued

I also finished a cardigan so old that I didn't get it into my Ravelry records.  I made it shorter than directed, simply because I made it in a slightly lighter weight, and I'm a short person.  Called "Round Trip" it's featured in Knitter's Magazine #72 -- the Fall 2003 issue!  At present I've not photographed it, but I'll tell you...it sat for years (I brought it with me when I moved here in 2008), when all it needed was a few inches and then the cuff on the second sleeve.  And at last...it's got them!

The "Spectacle Quilt" (pattern from "We All Sew") is now quilted and has it's binding on -- I chose the same yellow as the zinger because...well...truth be told, it's what I had enough of to work with!  I have to hand sew the binding onto the back.  The baby for whom this is intended (another Eastern Canada cousin) is due...momentarily.  I hope to get the news before I finish the binding so I can put his/her name on the label.

Finally, I finished a pair of finger-less mittens for The Shop, to be used as a sample whenever we get the delicious yarn they're made in:

Pattern: Holt Wrist Warmers
Designer: Libby Summers
Yarn: "Herriot" from Juniper Moon Farms
100% Alpaca....Yummy!

In the sewdio...I've been playing with more inspirations -- from Susan Lenz and Cas Holmes.

Susan wrote a blog post last month about her button collection and how she felt compelled to use more buttons in her work.  To that end, she created some rather large pieces (30" x 38" or so) and framed them.  She called the series, "Things Kept".  Now, I'm pretty gob-smacked by all of Susan's work, and she's so prolific she makes many of us look slothful, but I have to tell you, these pieces captivated me.

Though as you know from some of my earlier posts, Gentle Readers, I struggle with collage work, I've been longing to become more relaxed with this, to just dig out paper and glue and thread and floss and fabric and "stuff" and get on with it!

I also wanted to make a wee piece for the up-coming SAQA Spotlight Auction at this year's conference -- and I often take this as an opportunity to experiment with new techniques.

I began with this piece, which turned out to be too small for the Auction but just right to become a new 'mini' for (I hope) some future buyer:

New Directions 1
Materials: commercial cotton fabric,
purchased hand-made paper, silk fabric,
perle cotton, vintage button
5" W x 7" L, matted to 8" x 10"

I decided to try a second in a larger size, using more of the same materials...with a bit extra detail.  It's still on my design wall, needing a facing -- and it may end up mounted on painted stretched canvas.

New Directions 2
Same background materials, but
added - couched hand-dyed thread,
vintage buckle (some sort of plastic)
Currently, 12" W x 16" L, unfinished

With this practice under my belt, I decided it was time to return to the Auction piece, and was happy to get the size right this time:

New Directions 3
(C) 2019

Next up, I auditioned different fabrics etc. for a fourth piece, now finished except for sewing down the binding (which matches the background), but here it is, just taking shape on my cutting table:

New Directions 4 - shown in fabric audition
Materials: commercial  cotton and batik fabric;
purchased hand-made paper; blotted torn book paper;
purchased hand-made button

Photo to follow when finished!

Cas Holmes' new book, Textile Landscapes, which I may have told you I received as a birthday gift last fall, calls for practicing with layering in 'dry collage' and then, in practice, attaching layers with gel medium and/or stitch.  She does so in a remarkable, loose way.  Having created rather orderly, formal collages, I thought I'd try to loosen up a bit more.

I took a length of a synthetic sheer that I had in my stash, and applied to it layers of linen that I'd stamped and/or scribbled on (credit to Valerie Wilson and Susan Purney Mark for encouragement to do those things!).

The results are...ummm...rather mixed, to say the least.

Once a whole piece, sliced in half, trimmed

Left side, 6" square, unfinished

Right side, 6" square, unfinished

I'm undecided about these -- whether or not to add stitch or just file them "as is" in my 'samples' binder.  I think they have rather more glue between the layers (even though I diluted already-liquid gel medium with water), so any stitching would need to be by machine.  You can sort of tell I was in a 'landscape' mode when I played with this stuff, but it's not based on any particular scene.  Time will tell, but I'm thinking 'funky' landscapes aren't my style!  Still, it's good to have the inspiration (i.e. the book) to draw from, from time to time.

There was a kind of 'release' from these experiments, so I was able to return to creating pieces in a style for which I'm better known.

First, another new 'mini'.  I started by painting some tea bag paper to create a 'moon'.

I then backed some eco-dyed silk (from my friend arlee) with fusible web, on which I'd loosely traced trees from a wonderful tree stencil that I bought somewhere.  The moon and trees were fused onto the same background as "New Directions 3", and thread for quilting the trunks was auditioned:

Once the trunks and background were quilted, "snow" and "fog" were added...and the piece was ready for its mat:

January Moon (C) 2019
5" W x 7" L, matted to 8" x 10"

I've finished off this period of "MORE" with another, larger piece -- one that I've carried around in my head for a good year now.  It's based on a photo of a tree, bare of leaves, that's one of a small group on the edge of my favourite walking path around Cranna Lake in Lacombe.  It's a good thing I printed a couple of it -- because I can't find the photo to show you!  (I can, however, take another next time I'm by there, in the right season.  Sigh.)

I beavered away on this one without taking any process photos either...so here you have it:

In the Bleak Midwinter (C) 2019
Commercial cotton fabric, cotton thread,
mono-poly filament, water-colour pencils
17" W x 27" L

In the Bleak Midwinter -  Detail

And...so now I've caught you up on MORE in the studio for this year so far!   As Madeleine L'Engle wrote about writing, and which I paraphrase here...

Discipline is essential in the artist's life...but when you start to [create], don't think.

[Create.]  If you think when you're [creating], it's no good.  You have to have done your thinking just as you have to have gone through the emotion.  You get out on the other side of the emotion, and out on the other side of thinking, and you [create].

It would appear that once I 'got out on the other side of the thinking, the emotion', I could give birth to January Moon and In the Bleak Mid-winter.  Nina Marie's taken a creative day this week -- and I'm betting she's got something brewing that's on the other side of both 'the thinking' and 'the emotion'.  I'm linking to her "Off the Wall Friday" page...and leaving you wishes for a creative weekend.  

What are you birthing in your sewdio?