Snow

Snow:












Clara's opinion:

Smile like you meant to do that...

I've been watching others come up with fabulous felted (OK, fulled) handbags and I decided to use the concept to make a hot water bottle cover. First I had to find a traditional hot water bottle that I could use in my electricity-less, heaterless travel trailer. This is harder than it sounds, since most folks have apparently switched over to microwavable pads. I eventually found one in the traditional ugly-pink rubber. I dug into my stash and found some hand-painted blueface leicester roving left over from a previous project. For maximum speed and fuzzyness I left the roving unspun and knitted it up as is. Unfortunately I didn't have quite enough. Knowing it would probably be too short, I threw it in the wash anyway. Here it is after a single run through the washer. It was, indeed, too short. On the plus side, it would make a fine bag. But I was out of roving. I did have a ball of the yarn left over from the original project. I hunted it down and blew the dust and cat hair off. Even if the texture would be different, at least the color would match. I knitted the ball of yarn into about 3 yards of 5-stitch I-cord. (For any non-knitting sorts reading this, I-cord stands for Idiot cord, because after a few feet the knitter tends to turn into a raving idiot from the boredom.) I decided to send the I-cord into the wash and also threw the now-bag in for an extra go-around to further merge the colors. I meant to only agitate it a little while, but there was something interesting on TV, and, well.... 2 hours later I remembered to pull it out. Bit of a mistake.

The bag was now smaller, thicker, and the rim of the opening was oddly uneven. Hmm... how to recover? Should I just cut my losses and consign the evidence to one of my multitudinous totebags in hidden corners of my fiber room? Taking a lesson from my cats, who firmly believe you can pull off any ungraceful misstep by looking like you meant to do that, I created a braided strap from the I-cord, leaving a longer bit at each end. Then I sewed the longer bits onto the rim in a coiled pattern that emphasizes where the rim bumps up unevenly. Viola! It is now interestingly irregular rather then mistakenly uneven. Just as if I meant it that way.

So I started out to make a hot water bottle cover and ended up with this nifty bag. Life is full of surprises.

No more icky pink

Icky pink.











Icky pink over-dyed with sun yellow.

Much better!

I have Curtains!!!

In a burst of energy I sewed up the trailer's curtain panels. I didn't want the standard gathered curtains because they wouldn't open enough to completely clear the windows. I wanted something bold and bright, yet simple and in keeping with my folk art theme. So I conceived flat curtain panels with metal rings at the corners that could be hung on simple cup hooks.
Finding the metal rings turned out to be the hard part. I ended up using key tag rings, removing the cardboard tag bit. This worked increadibly well, and was really inexpensive. The cup hooks are small enough to not drill all the way through the trailer wall, yet large enough to hook more than one ring, allowing several open-or-closed configurations of the panels, or even rolling the panels completely up out of the way. All the panels are dark purple on the outside so that they will go with the eventual paint scheme. Inside, they are batiks in colors to match the painted table and picture frames.
As you can see, I REALLY need to get rid of the blue on the seat cushions. Sigh - more sewing.

Interim Report

Here are a few pictures from projects underway:

First, here is a picture for Birdsong - I finished my first Delicato Mitt. Definitely not a beginner pattern! I am knitting them from handspun alpaca. Once done, I will overdye them to cut down on the icky pinkness.











Second, here is a picture for Barb. This is the batik fabric I found for my trailer curtains. I have cut them all out and still need to sew them up. Good thing there is a 3-day weekend coming!












And last, here is another teaser picture of my mystery project. More about that in a later post.

Seraphim complete!

I am happy to announce the successful birth of my Seraphim Shawl. Finishing an actually useful shawl is quite a triumph for me (having started and not completed at least a half dozen). Here it is being blocked on my futon bed. I don't have carpeting, so it is the only pinnable surface large enough. Even so, the ends had to be pinned off the edges of the bed. The yarn is 50% mohair, 50% wool that I bought as pre-dyed roving from BearDog Yarns at Black Sheep Gathering. The color was listed as "Spring Leaves". My original plan was to spin the yarn for a sweater, but I am much happier having it as a shawl. I like the way the variation of color worked up. Part way through knitting it, I realised my row guage was way smaller than the pattern called for so I added about 20% more pattern repeats. The result is an extremely generous sized shawl. Better over large than over small!
I wanted to take a pretty picture of it outside, but it is still cloudy and muddy and wintery-looking, so the best I could do looks pretty pallid. Trust me, the color is far more vibrant.Now back to making curtains. I have the fabric cut out and need to start sewing.

Meanwhile, here's a preview of another project:

The Art of Surprise

Or rather the magic of surprise art. I am very fond of good landscape design, and one of the prime tools of great garden design is the little secret pockets where one can turn a corner and find a hidden surprise, maybe a little fountain, or a piece of sculpture, or even just an exceptional plant. This same principle is found in clothing design when the designer lines the inside of a jacket or purse with a special fabric or color, only to be seen by the wearer, or in brief flashes. I have a plain black nylon tote bag that when unzipped reveals an inside that is blue sky with puffy white clouds. I smile every time I look in it.

When I decided to decorate my little trailer, I knew I would be adding lots of hidden bits of art. For the most part they would be satisfying only me, but why not? Under the table lives a board that serves to extend the bed area. This board is only visible when the table is put down, but before the cushions are turned to make up the bed. A night time picture was appropriate. I'll see it briefly each night as I make up the bed. A little art just before bedtime should encourage technicolor dreams!

Woman vs. Machine

Anybody who knows me at all well knows that sewing and I do not get along. In fact, I will go to great lengths to avoid it, knitting everything possible in the round to avoid seams. Several years ago, in a fit of good intentions towards decorating, I bought a reconditioned sewing machine. I took it home, placed it in a corner of my fiber room, and there it sat until tonight.

I am proud to say I met the beast and I conquered it!

I found this cool purple cotton chenille fabric at Windy Moon Quilts in Reno. It just had to become pillow covers for the trailer! I like how it is sort of both vintage-looking and quirky at the same time. Being 100% cotton it feels great. I bought all they had. When I put it through the wash for preshrinking, it sent purple fuzzies out the dryer vent and across my front yard. After minimal experimentation (and only 1 broken needle) I knocked out covers for 3 pillows - 2 huge ones and one smaller one. I am pleased and proud of how they came out.


Tomorrow I attempt curtains.

Table in place

I promised a picture of the table in situ, so here it is. Now imagine it after I have covered the white pillows with purple chenille and hung dark purple shade-like curtains. And hung pictures in the painted frames I made. OK, that's hard to imagine, so stay tuned for more pictures at a later date.

Lace interval

The trailer table is finished and installed (pictures coming soon), and there are lots of other trailer projects to dive into, but it is time for a diversion. I am currently obsessed by lace knitting. I don't think of myself as a lacey person, and noone would think of me in delicate, girlie terms, but the urge to knit lace is overwhelming. Perhaps it is the magic that appears when you block a shapeless tangled-looking mass and it turns into an intricately patterned airy garment. Recently I have been working on this Seraphim Shawl. (As you can see it is still in the shapeless mass stage.) Just as my efforts began to flag, I encountered the recently published "Victorian Lace Today". This beautiful book inspired me to launch into the shawl's lace charts with enthusiasm and to order up the pattern for "Delicato Mitts" from Knitspot.com.

One of my favorite pieces

In addition to picture frames to match the trailer table, I also made a coat rack. The original plan was to install small iron hooks on a board that I would then hang. While installing the new cabinet knobs, I had a flash of inspiration and rushed back to Home Depot for more knobs. I am mighty pleased with the finished product and can't wait to hang it.

All the varnishing is done, so it is time to turn to the soft stuff. As soon as my kitchen table is cleared of the detritus from the last projects, I will bring out the sewing machine that is languishing in a deep, dark corner of my fiber room (Yes, Sharon, I really do intend to sew.) I'll start simple with the pillow covers and work my way up to curtains. I wonder how you thread the thing...

Tada!!!
I have a few other pieces to do, then I'll seal them all with several coats of varnish. The varnish will deepen the colors and exentuate the texture from the burn lines.

Despite the cold, I installed the new cabinet knobs and drawer pulls in the trailer today, and hung a string of bright-colored folkart birds. Time to start looking for curtain fabric...

Purple complete!

Only green to go.

Happy discovery!

I am still working on painting the purple background of the trailer table. Meanwhile I am collecting other bits and pieces of decor. I scored a great purple thermal blanket on clearance. I also found some really funky shaggy purple spherical pillows, also on clearance. Today I zipped over to Home Depot at lunch to look for replacements for the rather boring pretend-brass cabinet knobs and drawer pulls. I had a particular design in mind, but that was blown away when I found knobs with the same vine design I have been painting on the picture frames and table! What was the chance of that? I can't wait to get in and install them this weekend!

The Problem with Purple

Tonight I started adding the purple background to my trailer table. From my experience with painting the spinning wheel, I already knew that purple is difficult to apply evenly. On the plywood it is even worse! After struggling to paint just a corner, I was ready to cry. It was looking like I had ruined all that work! The various grains either sucked in the paint without giving time to spread it evenly, or barely took the paint at all. What a mess! I forced myself to say my recently acquired mantra over and over: "It is what it is... It is what it is..." And I forged on. After all, folk art is supposed to be... um... folky, right? And the lighting is kinda dim in the trailer... Happily, I learned from the spinning wheel project that the application of several coats of varnish makes mistakes look like intentional style effects. Really, I meant to do that.. Really..

Trailer table progress

After a visiting the family for the holidays, I am back home and working on the replacement table for my little trailer. Before Christmas I completed burning the pattern, so the next step is paint.
Before launching into painting such a large surface, I warmed up by woodburning, then painting, a set of six small picture frames to match the table. They should help to coordinate the colors and flowering vine theme around the inside of the trailer. The frames have the same 4 colors that I am using on the table.

Here is the table with the red applied...












And with the yellow...

Tomorrow night I start adding the purple background, then I will paint the thousands of little leaves green. And finish off both table and frames with several coats of spar varnish.


One last note about Christmas projects: This year I decided to needle-felt an ornament for each member of my family. As you can see, I have a very large family!

As the dust settles....

The dust is starting to settle from Christmas excitement and thoughts are turning to the new year. What will be my resolutions? What do I need to finish up from 2006? And what new adventures can I plan for 2007? While I contemplate these important questions, here is a project I completed in time for Christmas.

This pillow cover is made from commercially-spun thick and thin yarn. Since I had limited time, I chose to knit the pillow cover on the bias. Yes, I know there are just as many stitches regardless of the direction, but starting at the corner with just a few stitches allowed me to avoid knitting a swatch. I just increased until the garter-stitch fabric was an inch or so narrower than the pillow insert, then started decreasing along one edge, while still increasing along the other. When the longer edge was twice the length of the pillow, plus some, I changed to decreasing on both edges. The result was a long rectangle. I picked up and knitted 4 inches of rib on each end, then sewed up the pillow cover so that the overlap would be in the middle back of the pillow. Stuffing the pillow inside, I found that the overlap wasn't enough to avoid gapping, so I added three matching buttons. The buttons are small enough that they can be pushed through the ribbing without making buttonholes. With one extra skein I made the 4 tassels. Result: one soft, yet interestingly textured pillow.

Wishing for Peace and Good Will for All!

I've been so very busy dealing with the detritus of a busy year that I keep forgetting to relax and enjoy the holiday season. To remind myself I look at the ornaments on my tree, each of them a record of special friends and good times, vacations and other travels through life. Some are made by my talented comrades in fiber art, others were picked up as souvenires to remind me of trips to special places, and still more are symbols of my shifting enthusiasms over the various stages of my life. All-in-all, my tree serves as a personal resume that tells all about my life, yet can only be read by me.

Happy holidays to you and yours!! May the new year add a few more treasured memories to next year's tree.

Snow day

I had major ambition to do my Christmas baking today but I woke up to enough snow that a trip to the grocery store for a necessary ingrediant was not to be accomplished. Instead there was plenty of shoveling, then time to work on more burning of the trailer table. After about 6 more hours of work my hand is cramped and sore, but I am victorious in having completed burning the pattern. Although I did burn "2006" onto the bottom, I probably won't complete the painting and sealing until into the new year. It will be nice to install my first bit of customization into the trailer and make her really mine!

Table progress report

I'm moving along on creating a new table for the trailer. I spent several hours Monday evening drawing the design in pencil. Tonight I started the woodburning. I completed the general structure of the vines and the center part of the sun design in about 3.5 hours. I still have thousands of little leaves to burn and the rays of the sun before I can start painting. The grain in the plywood makes even burning pretty difficult.

Enough for tonight. I'll press on tomorrow evening.