Category: Chit Chat

No socks

PiaChit Chat

Somebody asked me why I don’t knit socks. The answer is same as why I don’t make my own underwear: I don’t have to. With my crafting time so precious, my knitting so slow and all the crazy childrens’ socks I can get in a bundle for a few bucks, it’s just not important to me. Besides, they’d probably itch. Possibly it also has to do with having to make two of the same…? (btw I do draw the line at spiderman socks)

sox

So tell me, why DO you, or not, knit socks? They’re rarely seen outside the house (unless they’re drying) and not something you notice as much as a nice sweater for instance.

I was going to make a post about how much fun I’m having with painting lately, but then I began to rush to have something to show you and suddenly I was struggling again. I wouldn’t say that I’m on a roll yet, just one day off can block the way forward, but it’s definitely very close to the feeling of flow as I know it, verging on bubbly. When I’m not distracted by sick pets. Gets me every time.

Yarn tools

PiaChit Chat

I love it when things can be made from the “what’s in the woodshed” principle as well as having more than one purpose. I’ve previously shown you my blending hackle, here it is without fun fur on. I made the tines from welding rods and sharpened each one by hand, they’re very strong:

hackle2 hackle1

I also have a homemade swift. I tend to never get to the point where I polish and paint these contraptions, although I do love beautiful tools. I’m simply too busy using them, that’s all, and I know I’m not much of a carpenter anyway.

swift1

I use the pegs from the swift with these crude pieces of lumber to warp both directly and  – eventually – indirectly. In summer I’m going to find a wall space outside to fix them vertically, as this will make running the yarn back and forth much easier on my back than leaning over the table.

warp02
direct warping a wide loom with multiple pegs

warping01
Measuring  a 3 m. Ø skein for space dyeing a pooling warp (or so the plan goes). By moving the pegs AND the bars further apart, I can make virtually any length of warp I desire, there are 8 pegs total. One can hold the cone of yarn!

I can also use the pegs and bars to strap poles onto if I want to make a navajo style warp for my large tapestry loom.

I meant to include an image of my homemade tapestry loom, but we ran into a small problem and didn’t get it finished on Sunday. I’m going to have a look at it and see if I can come up with a new idea for the last bit. It’s functional as it is, but I want to include multiple leash rods I think they’re called. Homemade shedding device kinda thing.

I also made a few spindles before I got my wheel. I don’t use them very often now I have to admit, but they work very well, especially the 14 g which I used to make a lace shawl. I too dream of Goldings and Bosworths, but I’d rather have more fiber.

lace6

Too dark

PiaChit Chat

It’s a rainy day today, very dark. Great for indoors activities, and yet – my lamp seems to shine in the wet paint, so I’m going to have to hoist up the dinner table lamps (glass) even more so I don’t knock them out when I move the easel around.

I have quite a few ideas for using my “intuitive backgrounds”. As I’ve mentioned earlier, I get really into the stage where I lash on paint and create some nice effects and then I’m afraid to paint a motif over the top for fear of ruining it. Perhaps I’m to be an abstract painter? Yesterday I had the notion though, to incorporate some horses. I need to learn to loosen up, not try to paint realistic, because it deadens my work. When I painted before, I mostly had a plan before I even started or I did a bit of background doodling to see if it began to look like something, and then I made a plan.

Anyway, today’s question is not about getting ideas, it’s about taking photos of your work. I wanted to take some good photos of each stage in the paintings to use on the computer. Textures to blend with photos. In fact I have the notion to also leave some canvasses (how many s’s?) as backgrounds and simply save them to use for photographing yarn or found objects on/against. (Like my tulips above, against a blue painting, I’ve got a variety of those)

Do you have any good tricks for me, when they’re too large to pop in a scanner? Do you simply wait until there is good light? I really was counting on painting all day again today (although the loom is calling), but then I’ll miss some “stages”.

Or is it simply another exercise in going with the flow of life and wait for the sun….

coverup
This is just a first layer cover-up of the previous owner’s “cactus in a window”. It distracted me too much to paint on it as it was.

Tumeny words

PiaChit Chat

poppy01

I’m painting today and I’m determined to keep at it even if there are loud phone conversations upstairs, lunch requests and various pet related incidents. I started out with something easy, filling in the poppy shapes I did months ago (I think I’m going to have a look at real poppies before I move on 😉 ), but I also want to get a sketch done which has lived in my head for a long time. I bet it’s blocking the way for others!

sketchWhy am I persisting with a medium that seems so difficult for me? (not new, I did paint quite a lot many years ago) I actually wrote a 3000 word blog post on that over the weekend, it’s not even done yet and I don’t think I’ll ever publish it. But the short version is: A because it keeps knocking, B that I suspect the things which are easy at first may not be the ones where you ultimately excel, and C I have to get over my story of how I need perfect surroundings before I can begin. At the very least I should tell it differently.

See, in just over 200 words! That was some kickass editing if you ask me.

Right, egg sandwiches done and on my part eaten, back to work. While waiting for the others to dry I’ve hauled out one of the used canvasses I “inherited”. At first I tried to work with the lines and colour there, but it’s not working even if I see some kind of forest scene in my head. But nevermind, today’s exercise is simply: keep at it. That’s my only ambition. All day, only the necessary breaks when somebody is either hungry or needs to pee. After all, it’s not Molly’s fault that I’m an idjit. (‘m allowed to blog while I eat egg sandwiches)

I think I may have answered my colour question from last week. I keep wanting to mix in clean colours with the black and olive, I even happily dipped away in phtalo blue when I thought I’d reached for the ultramarine…

Busy

PiaAcid Dyeing

As I mentioned we’ve tried to do a few house things during the winter holidays this last week. What with an early, temporary spring – open jackets and all! Awesome.

We never quite finish my the list and I can feel that I’m getting to the end of my “go” where those things are concerned, I know I need a break. But a good chunk has been completed, including improvements on my tapestry loom, last bit tomorrow I hope. Bushes moved, that kinda thing, the house will be pretty orderly come Monday = room to play again. And there’s a reasonable view of what still needs to be done. Focus!

Today, just a few colour bombs for you all. Pretending this is indeed the first day of spring, not just on the calendar.

I thought I’d do little snippets and teasers here until I have time to talk to you again, but then I realized most of my wips have already been presented. So there will be limited entertainment until I can finish my drafts! Here’s a purple spacedyed warp that I was asked to show. More on the project later. I think I expected a bit more indigo, but that’s how it goes when you just wing it.

purple01